he proud traditions
of Bensonhurst’s
Ita lia n-A meric a n
community will be on full
display when the 37th Annual Brooklyn Columbus
Day Parade takes place on
18th Avenue (AKA Cristoforo Columbo Boulevard
after the Italian name for
the explorer) on Saturday,
Oct. 6.
New York City will hold
a parade on Columbus Day
Day, Monday, Oct. 8, on Fifth
Avenue. But Brooklyn likes
to host its own parade.
Sponsored by the Federation of Italian-American
Organizations (FIAO) of
Brooklyn, the parade is
a longstanding Bensonhurst tradition that still
draws large crowds every
October, despite the fact
that the neighborhood has
undergone a sea of change
in recent years, transitioning from a predominantly
Italian-American community to one that is largely
Asian-American.
The FIAO’s success in
keeping the Italian-flavored parade alive and
thriving amid changing
demographics is due to the
organization’s willingness
to embrace those changes,
while at the same time
promoting cultural pride,
according to FIAO President
and CEO Carlo Scissura.
“To me, the parade is
a celebration of Italian
culture and culture in
general,” Scissura told this

ebrooklynmedia/fi le photo by Paula Katinas

Biagio Madaio (left), vice president of business development at
Investors Bank, and Joseph Bova, Democratic district leader of the 49th
Assembly District, were the grand marshals of the Brooklyn Columbus
Day Parade in 2015.
newspaper.
The FIAO has reached out
to its Asian neighbors and
invited them to take part in
the festivities.
Last year’s parade, for
example, featured Chinese
dragon dancers along with
marchers waving Italian
flags and dancing the
Tarantella.
“The parade has been

going on for decades. It always draws a large turnout
of spectators and marchers,”
Scissura said.
The parade gets under
way on Oct. 6 at noon on
18th Avenue and 60th Street.

Participants, including
members of Italian organizations, church groups,
dancers, students from
local schools, marching
bands and colorful ﬂoats,
will make their way up the

avenue to Benson Avenue,
where the FIAO’s headquarters, Il Centro (Italian
for “The Center), is located
and where the reviewing
stand will be.
The 2018 Brooklyn Columbus Day Parade Grand
Marshals are: Joseph Bruno,
former commissioner of
the New York City Oﬃce of
Emergency Management;
Frank Naccarato, past
president of the FIAO; Det.
Stephen Agosta of the 62nd
Precinct; and Ursula Annio,
principal at P.S. 748.
“We have a great group of
grand marshals this year,”
Scissura said, adding that
they were chosen because
of their records of service
to the city, the borough
and the Bensonhurst
community.
The grand marshals will
be the guests of honor at
a special brunch six days
before the parade. The event
will take place on Sunday,
Sept. 30, at Sirico’s Caterers,
at 8023 13th Ave. Like the
parade, the brunch is sponsored by the FIAO.
Founded in 1977, the FIAO
is a multi-faceted organization that oﬀers educational
programs, immigration
assistance and social service referrals to more than
15,000 people a year. The
organization also operates
several after-school centers
where more than 10,000
children play sports and get

help with homework.
The FIAO’s balance of
tradition and inclusiveness
can also be found at Il Centro, the organization’s new
headquarters which opened
to great fanfare in June in a
ceremony that included a
ribbon cutting attended by
Matilda Cuomo, mother of
Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Il Centro is the ﬁrst Italian cultural center in New
York City, according to Scissura, who is the president
of the New York Building
Congress.
The
s i x- s t o r y,
44,000-square-foot Il Centro houses classrooms, an
interactive learning library,
a ﬁtness center, a gymnasium, an auditorium and an
indoor pool on the ﬁfth ﬂoor
that boasts ﬂoor-to-ceiling
windows on three sides
oﬀering views of Bensonhurst, Coney Island and the
Manhattan skyline.
People of all nationalities
have been ﬂocking to Il Centro since it opened to take
English language lessons,
practice yoga, learn to swim,
enjoy dance lessons and
take history classes, among
other self-improvement
activities.
In
addition
to
Asian-Americans, Bensonhurst has become home
to large numbers of immigrants from Russia, Poland,
the Middle East and Central
America in recent years.

ops are hunting for
a suspect in connection to a bank
robbery in the Bensonhurst area.
Authorities say that
on Saturday, September
29 at around 10:36 a.m.,
the perp, described as a
40-year-old man, entered
a bank on 18th Avenue
between 85th and 86th
Streets, and handed a teller
a note that stated,” Give me
everything in your box so
no one gets hurt.” After
reading the note, the teller

Photo courtesy of the NYPD

Surveillance images of the suspect.
gave the crook $500, in a
packet that included a dye
pack. The perp then ﬂed
eastbound on 86th Street

past 18th Avenue.
The unidentiﬁed male is
black-Hispanic, 5’08” with
a beard. He was wearing a

baseball cap with “CARRE”
on it, sunglasses and a tan
trench coat. He was carrying a messenger bag.
Anyone with information in regards to this
incident is asked to call the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers
Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS
(8477) or for Spanish,
1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The
public can also submit their
tips by logging onto the
Crime Stoppers website at
www.nypdcrimestoppers.
com, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their
tips to 274637 (CRIMES)
then entering TIP577.
All calls are strictly
conﬁdential.

ally’s sunshine is
spreading, even at
night.
Sally Kabel, the six-yearold Bay Ridge girl who died
on Sept. 19 after bravely
battling leukemia for most
of her young life with a
sunny, optimistic attitude
that inspired everyone
around her, was remembered at a candlelight vigil
in Coney Island on Sept. 27.
The vigil, which took
place on the Riegelmann
Boardwalk at West 19th
Street at sundown, drew
a large crowd of residents
from several Brooklyn
neighborhoods who came
to show love and support
for Sally’s grieving parents,
Matthew and Nicole.

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Arthur De Gaeta

Ribbons were given out at a candlelight vigil for Sally Kabel, known to many as “Sweet Sally
Sunshine.” The remembrance was held in conjunction with the annual lighting of the Coney
Island Parachute Jump gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
leukemia when she was 10
months old.
Treyger said the candlelight vigil was meaningful because Sally Kabel
helped unify people.

Participants also vowed
to continue to ﬁght for a
cure for childhood cancer.
The vigil took place on
the same night as the Fifth
Annual Lighting of the
Parachute Jump, in which
the landmark is lit in gold
in recognition of National
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September.

The lighting ceremony was organized
by the owners of
Luna Park and by
Councilmember
Mark Treyger, a
D emo c rat
who
represents Coney
Island. Democratic
Councilmember Justin
Brannan, who represents

Bay Ridge, where the Kabels are from, also helped

put the vigil together.
“A truly moving community tribute and vigil
for #SweetSallySunshine
before lighting the famous
Coney Island parachute
jump gold for Sally and all
those impacted by childhood cancer. We won’t
give up until there’s a cure!”
Brannan wrote on Twitter.
Sally Kabel, whose
nickname was “Sweet
Sally Sunshine,” was an
inspirational figure to
many of her Bay Ridge
neighbors, who marveled
at her courage and positive
attitude as she underwent
chemotherapy and other
types of treatments.
She was diagnosed with

“Sally opened our hearts
and brought our communities closer together. We
are in this together for
Sally and for all children,”
he wrote on Twitter.

he man cops say shot
at several police
oﬃcers in a hospital
in Ellenville Friday and
robbed a Bay Ridge deli at
gunpoint Monday has been
arrested.
Authorities say that, on
Monday, Oct. 1, 42-year-old
Joshua Stuart — who on
Friday, Sept. 28 shot at several officers at Ellenville
Regional Hospital — entered
a smoke shop near Third
Avenue and 83rd Street,
approached a 29-year-old
male employee, took out a
gun and grabbed his wallet,
which had $50 and a credit
card inside.

Insets courtesy of the NYPD

Joshua Stewart.

According to police, the
suspect then ﬂed the scene
in a 2005 Honda Pilot with
the New York plate BVX2687. No injuries were
reported.
Later that evening, Stuart
was spotted near a supermarket on Third Street
between Second and Third
Avenues where he was apprehended by members of
the New York/New Jersey
U.S. Marshals Regional
Fugitive Task Force and the
78th Precinct.
The NYPD and New York
State Police say that the

suspect was also seen in the
Sunset Park area, as well as
Flatbush, where he is said to
have relatives.
Ellenville police described Stuart as being
5-foot-8 and about 155
pounds.
On Tuesday, Stuart
was walked out of the 68th
Precinct.
He
was
charged
with robbery, criminal
possession of a weapon,
criminal possession of stolen property and criminal
possession of a controlled
substance.

ops have arrested
a suspect wanted
in connection with
the robbery of a 17-yearold man in Bay Ridge.
According to authorities, on Friday, Sept. 14 at
around 8:50 a.m., the suspect -- a 15-year-old boy
-- approached the victim

on the northbound R
train platform of the Bay
Ridge Avenue subway
station, and asked him
where his phone was.
The teen then allegedly
began punching the victim, stole his headphones
and fled the scene.
The victim received
medical treatment. Cops
arrested the suspect on
Friday, Sept. 21. He was
charged with robbery.

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$1,000 minimum balance to open and earn interest. Early withdrawal penalty may apply. CDs must be opened in person at an Apple
Bank branch. ** For the Grand Yield Savings Account, interest earned on daily balances of $2,500 or more at these tiers: $2,500-$9,999:
1.60% APY, $10,000-$24,999: 1.60% APY, $25,000-$49,999: 1.60% APY, $50,000 or more: 1.60% APY. There is no interest paid on balances
between $1-$2,499. $100 minimum deposit required to open account. A combined $3,000,000 maximum deposit per household applies
to the Grand Yield Savings Account. A household is defined as a family residing at the same address. This account may be opened as a
passbook or statement savings account. Offer may be withdrawn at any time without prior notice.

6• HOME REPORTER/SPECTATOR • Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018

Golden Says He is Not Fazed by Democratic Blue Wave
BY PAULA KATINAS
PAULA@BROOKLYNEAGLE.COM

T

he Blue Wave that
political observers
are expecting to
sweep across the country
on Election Day isn’t going
to reach the shores of Southwest Brooklyn, Republican
state Sen. Martin Golden is
conﬁdently predicting.
Golden, who is running
for re-election in the 22nd
Senate District on Nov. 6,
said residents in his district
tend to vote on a candidate’s
record, as opposed to party
aﬃliation. There are more
registered Democrats than
Republicans in the district,
but that hasn’t added up to
defeat for Golden, who ﬁrst
won the seat in 2002, and
is now running for a ninth
term.
He considers himself a
hands-on lawmaker who
regularly gets out and engages the public at events
like the Summer Stroll on
3rd and his Summer Concert series in parks.
“I am out there on a regular basis. People know
me,” he told this newspaper

during an interview in his
Bay Ridge oﬃce on Monday,
October 1. Visibility and
name recognition are two
of his strengths, he said.
Golden is the only Republican state senator representing Brooklyn.
His re-election bid is getting a great deal of attention
in part because of the talk
of a Blue Wave and because
his Democratic opponent,
lawyer Andrew Gounardes,
ran against him in 2012 and
impressed many political
leaders with a strong showing in Bay Ridge.
Gounardes garnered more
votes than Golden in Bay
Ridge six years ago. Golden
won the election due to his
vote-getting strength in other
neighborhoods like Marine
Park and Gerritsen Beach.
Gounardes, who is chief
counsel to Borough President Eric Adams, has the
entire Democratic Party
establishment behind him
as he seeks to unseat Golden.
Golden said he is taking the challenge from
Gounardes seriously. “I take
nothing for granted,’ he said.
Golden has recently

ebrooklyn media/File photo by Paula Katinas

State Sen. Martin Golden says he is confident
that residents vote on a candidate’s record, not
party affiliation.
found himself at the center
of controversies, including
dust-ups over speed cameras in school zones.
After a state-approved
pilot program authorizing
speed cameras in 140 school
zones around the city expired on July 25, the state
Senate did not vote on a bill
to renew it, as the state Assembly had. Transportation
safety advocates accused
Golden of ﬂip-ﬂopping on
the issue, supporting the
cameras and then opposing

them, a charge he denies.
“There is no time when I
voted against speed cameras. I think speed cameras
do work. They do save lives.
I take public safety very
seriously,” said Golden, a
retired police oﬃcer.
In August, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo signed an executive
order to re-activate the cameras on an emergency basis.
“For now, our kids are safe,”
Golden said.
Transportation safety
advocates have also charged

that Golden is a less-thanideal spokesperson on the
speed camera issue, since
his car has been ticketed
for speeding on numerous
occasions. Golden acknowledges the tickets, but said he
is not the only person who
drives his car.
Golden pointed to his
record in the Senate and
said he has sponsored many pieces of legislation and
has oﬀered strong support
for bills introduced by GOP
colleagues.
One of the bills he fought
for would allow emergency
medical technicians who
were part of the recovery
effort at the World Trade
Center in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks
to take sick leave and have it
covered under the Det. James
Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.
After Mayor Bill de Blasio
requested state legislation
to speed up major roadway
repair projects, like the
rebuilding of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
(BQE), Golden said the
Senate got it done. “We will
save hundreds of millions

of dollars by speeding these
projects up,” he said.
Golden said he supported
congestion pricing for Uber,
Lyft and other for-hire services entering Manhattan,
which begins in January.
He is currently ﬁghting
for a so-called Lock Box to
prevent New York State
from siphoning money
away the MTA and putting
it toward other uses.
In addition to working
to fund subway repairs,
Golden said he also advocated for alternative forms
of transportation to give
commuters choices. “I have
fought for ferries. I have
been at the forefront on
that,” he said.
He has also sponsored
legislation to combat illegal
home conversions. One bill
would increase penalties
against landlords who
illegally convert one and
two-family homes into
multi-unit buildings. He is
working on other legislation.
“I’m looking for a crackdown
through the entire process.
We want to catch them
when they are applying for
permits,” he said.

iders entering subway stations in Bay
Ridge and Bensonhurst one recent morning
might have been surprised
to see volunteers handing
out fans on the platform.
The volunteers were
members of the grassroots
group Fight Back Bay Ridge
and they were distributing
the fans not just to help riders cool oﬀ in the hot weather but to send a message
about how elected oﬃcials
are letting the public down
when it comes to subway
service.
Ten members of Fight
Back Bay Ridge spent the
morning rush hour distributing fans and leaﬂets
to riders at the 95th Street,
77th Street, Bay Ridge Avenue, Kings Highway, 20th
Avenue and 71st Street
stations on the D, N, Q and
R lines.
All of the targeted subway stations are located
within state Sen. Martin
Golden’s district and they
were chosen on purpose,
according to Fight Back Bay
Ridge Co-Founder Mallory

McMahon, who said the
“He has voted to divert
group’s goal is to raise $500 million over the past
awareness of Golden’s lack six years,” McMahon told
this newspaper. “That is a
of action on the subways.
The fans contained the lot of money that could have
slogan, “State Senator been used to make subway
Marty Golden: Nothing but repairs.”
The subways in Golden’s
Delays.”
“We want riders to know Senate district are getting
that the condition of the worse, McMahon said.
subways and why there There were 16 delays on
are always so many delays the D and R subway lines
Photos courtesy of Mallory McMahon
is not just because of old during a recent 23-day
equipment but because period, she said.
A member of Fight Back Bay Ridge shows one
there are elected oﬃcials
Fight Back Bay Ridge has of the fans she distributed at the 77th Street
who are not doing their equal ire for Democratic subway station.
jobs,” McMahon told this
drives everywhere and
newspaper.
doesn’t take the trains,
Golden, a Republican
with delays increasing on
representing a swath of
Brooklyn from Bay Ridge
his watch.” Holt added that
to Marine Park, is a target
since he moved to Bay Ridge
because he is a member of
two years ago, it takes him
the Metropolitan Trans15 minutes longer to get to
portation Authority (MTA)
Union Square to go to work
in the morning.
Capital Review Board, a Riders coming down the stairs to the platform
panel that looks at capital at a subway station are greeted by a member of
Another volunteer, Jay
expenditures, McMahon Fight Back Bay Ridge who has fans for them.
Brown, of Bensonhurst,
who talked to commuters
said.
She also charged that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ac- interests at heart,” she said. at the 20th Avenue station,
Golden, who is running for cording to McMahon,
Fight Back Bay Ridge said, “It was clear that
re-election in November, who said that he is also member Alan Holt, who people are fed up and want
has voted in favor of state a big reason behind the distributed fans at the 71st those responsible to be acbudgets that have unfairly group’s public awareness Street Station on the D countable for their actions
line, said that part of the in oﬃce.”
siphoned funds away campaign.
from the MTA and toward
“Golden and Cuomo are problem is that Golden can’t
Fight Back Bay Ridge will
other projects unrelated to two career politicians relate to subway riders.
be distributing materials
who don’t have our best
transportation.
“We have a senator who through Election Day.

The group, which formed
in late 2016 in response to
the election of President
Donald Trump, is not endorsing a candidate in the
state Senate race.
Golden disputed the
charges made by McMahon
and Fight Back Bay Ridge.
“It’s not true,” he told this
newspaper.
Golden said he worked
hard to convince Mayor
Bill de Blasio to chip in half
of the funding, some $416
million, to help pay for the
MTA’s ambitious Subway
Action Plan to repair antiquated systems. Cuomo has
pledged more than $400
million in state funding
toward the plan.
Golden said he supported
congestion pricing for Uber,
Lyft and other for-hire services in Manhattan. The
program, in which drivers
pay a fee to enter Manhattan, will generate funds for
the transit system.
In response to the charge
that he has voted for budgets
that redirect MTA funds,
Golden said has introduced
legislation to create a “Lock
Box” to prevent New York
State from siphoning money
away the MTA.

FRIDAY, October 12, 2018
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Xaverian High School
7100 Shore Road,
Brooklyn, NY 11209
Parking is Available
Come hear and see
where the candidates
stand on the important
issues of the day.
Sponsored as a public service
by the Bay Ridge Community Council
Find us on Facebook!
Ralph Succar, President
Alex Conti and Dean Rasinya,
Civic Affairs Committee Co-Chairs

8• HOME REPORTER/SPECTATOR • Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018

Cops Seek Two Suspects
Wanted for Burglary in
South Slope

Compiled by Jaime DeJesus

68 TH PRECINCT
The 68th Precinct serves Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton.
STEAL AND DASH: A Bay Ridge diner near 96th Street and Fourth Avenue was burglarized
on Sun., Sept. 30. According to reports, the store’s employee closed the establishment at
around 11:30 p.m. At opening time, the following morning, around 6:15 a.m., the victim
discovered the broken lock on the front door and window, and realized that $260 had been
stolen from the cash register. No arrests have been made.

BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM

C

ops are looking for two suspects
wanted in connection to a home
burglary in the Park Slope area.
According to authorities, on Thursday,
September 13 at around 12:50 p.m., two
men broke into a home belonging to a
39-year-old woman at 16th Street and
Fourth Avenue. Once inside, the two stole
several pieces of jewelry and ﬂed the location in an unknown direction.
Police describe the first suspect as
a black man. He was last seen wearing
sunglasses, a dark colored baseball cap
with a red logo, a gray shirt with a red
stripe across its chest, blue jeans and gray
sneakers.
The second suspect is also described
as a black man. He was last seen wearing
a black baseball cap with a white logo on
the front, a black shirt, black jeans and
black shoes.
Anyone with information in regards to
this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s
Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS
(8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA
(74782). The public can also submit their

POLICE BEAT

LOCK YOUR DOORS: An eatery at the corner of 80th Street and Third Avenue was burglarized by unknown crook sometime between 10 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 29 and 9 a.m. on Sun.,
Sept. 30. According to the victim, the gate was closed but the door wasn’t locked. The gate
was discovered halfway rolled up in the morning, and $700 and a Nikon camera valued at
around $6,600 were missing. No arrests have been made.
MISSING CAR: A vehicle parked on 78th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues was
stolen on Thurs., Sept. 25 sometime after 9:54 a.m. The loss was discovered when the victim,
a 28-year-old woman, returned later that day. No arrests have been made.
NAVIGATION THIEF: A GPS was snatched from a car parked near 88th Street and Colonial
Road on Saturday, September 29. Cops say that at around 9:26 a.m., the crook got into the
vehicle and stole the device, worth $30, then ﬂed the scene. The victim, a 41-year-old man,
wasn’t sure if he locked the car. No arrests have been made.
Photo courtesy of the NYPD

A surveillance image of the
suspects.
tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers
website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to
274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
All calls are strictly conﬁdential.

62 ND PRECINCT
The 62nd Precinct serves Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Gravesend.
MEN BUSTED FOR KNIFEPOINT ROBBERY: Two men were arrested for allegedly assaulting and robbing a 22-year-old man at knifepoint at 86th Street and 21st Avenue on
Fri., Sept. 26. According to reports, at around 5:33 a.m., the two alleged assailants, 27 and
39, approached the victim, said, “Give me all your money,” and grabbed him by the shirt,
threw him on the ground and held a knife to his neck. When oﬃcers caught the suspects,
one of them was holding a can of beer.
THREE AGAINST ONE: A 47-year-old was attacked and robbed by three perps while
working inside a restaurant near Bay Ridge Avenue and New Utrecht Avenue on Sunday,
September 30 at around 12:30 a.m. According to reports, the victim was hanging out with a
co-worker when one of the perps punched him in the eye. The other crooks took the victim’s
credit cards and ﬂed the scene, but not before one of the crooks told the victim, “In three
months, you need to work for us. That’s why we didn’t kill you.” No arrests have been made.
FAST BURGLARY: An unknown burglar or burglars broke into a fast food restaurant near
Bay Parkway and Shore Parkway and stole $1,500 and electronics on Saturday, September
29 at around 1 a.m. by making a hole in the ceiling of the establishment. Once inside, the
crook(s) grabbed the cash from the safe and cash drawers as well as video hard drives then
ﬂed through the rear door in an unknown direction. The burglary was discovered by an
employee opening up the store at 7 a.m. No arrests have been made.
MAN ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING GIRLFRIEND: A 33-year-old man was arrested for
allegedly assaulting his 18-year-old girlfriend inside a cafe near Avenue T and Stillwell
Avenue on Friday, September 26 at around 8:23 p.m. Reports say that, during a verbal altercation, the suspect allegedly put his hands around her neck, resulting in minor injuries.

n 87-year-old man
was killed after being struck by truck
in Bensonhurst.
Authorities say that on
Sept. 27, at approximately
2:50 p.m., Bath Beach resident Carmine Bruzzese
was crossing 86th Street
on 21st Avenue, north to
south, when a Mack truck
driving through the

ebrooklyn media/Photos by
Loudlabs News NYC

A Bay Ridge deli was
robbed at gunpoint
early Tuesday, Sept.
25.

intersection struck him.
Cops say that the
43-year-old driver of the
truck was stopped at a red
light on 86th Street heading westbound when, once
the traffic light turned
green, he continued forward despite Bruzzese’s
crossing at the crosswalk.
When police arrived,
they found the victim
lying on the
road with
trauma to
his head and

body. Emergency Medical
Services rushed him to
NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn where he was
pronounced dead.
The operator remained
on the scene.
The investigation is
ongoing by the NYPD’s
Collision Investigation
Squad.

BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.
COM

A

Bay Ridge deli was
robbed at gunpoint
just before noon
on Tuesday, Sept. 25.
According to authorities, at around 11:46
a.m., a male suspect
entered the store — located near the corner of
92nd Street and Fourth

Avenue — wearing a hat
that covered most of his
face and pointed a gun
at an employee while
demanding cash from the
register. The victim gave
the suspect $160.
The suspect is said to
have ﬂed in a white Nissan.
According to police, on
Wednesday, September

26 a suspect has been
apprehended.
“It is believed to be the
same suspect wanted for
several deli robberies this
month in Brooklyn,” wrote
Councilmember Justin
Brannon on Facebook.
No injuries were reported and the investigation is
ongoing.

Visitation students put
STEM into action
BROOKLYN
EDUCATION

The scene where, on Thurs., Sept. 27, an 87-year-old man was
struck and killed by a Mack truck.

isitation Academy has been
approved to pursue re-accreditation through the Sustaining
Excellence Protocol of the Middle States
Association of Colleges and Schools.
Visitation is part of an international
group of schools that have committed to
strategic planning and research to improve
student performance. STEM education is
the focus of Visitation’s research initiative.
Each year, the school identiﬁes a global
problem, and students in grades Pre-K-8
investigate solutions. The STEM project
begins in language arts. Students read a
book related to the global problem.
Last year, inspired by A Long Walk to
Water by Linda Sue Park, students raised
awareness of the global water shortage
problem. Visitation participated in the
Iron Giraﬀe Challenge, a fundraising
eﬀort to build drilling rigs for water in
the South Sudan.
Through this challenge, students
around the world raised $500,000 to
fund two new drilling rigs. Visitation
students raised $1,000 to contribute to

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Loudlabs News NYC

Assisted Living 10/9
Photo courtesy of Visitation Academy

Students at Visitation work on
various STEM issues.
this worthwhile cause.
The Visitation Student Council, moderated by Mrs. Carolyn Santangelo, led
the school’s eﬀorts. In July 2018, the Iron
Giraﬀe Challenge announced its thanks
to students worldwide.
Students at Visitation have the opportunity to enhance their STEM education
further by participating in a STEM
Enrichment Program at Fontbonne Hall
Academy.
The program is open to Visitation seventh and eighth graders, and it will take
place in the fab lab at Fontbonne. Students
will use the 3D printer and virtual reality
stations to explore various STEM topics,
including engineering, astronomy and
earth science, and the life sciences.

MALLIOTAKIS IS TECH
CONFERENCE KEYNOTE
SPEAKER
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge-Staten
Island) was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Ascent
Tech Conference on Oct. 4 at Pier 36 in Manhattan. The
conference is expected to include a wide range of speakers
discussing technology from various perspectives.
“Social media has changed the way we communicate with
our constituents and it has also become a 24/7 platform for
constituents to notify us about quality of life issues, ask
questions or express concerns. From using platforms like
Facebook on the night of Hurricane Sandy to direct emergency resources to promoting events like my property tax
protest to informing constituents of community news, social
media has proven its value,” Malliotakis said in a statement.
Malliotakis will discuss steps New York State is doing to
attract tech startups to set up shop in the state.
“New York has been working to create tech incubators
throughout the state such as the one located in the Brooklyn
Navy Yard focusing on artiﬁcial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology. We want to attract entrepreneurs and provide
an environment that fosters innovation so these businesses to
succeed, expand and create jobs here in our state,” she stated. PK

DONOVAN BLASTS GOP
LEADERSHIP ON TAX BILL
U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island) joined with two Republican colleagues,
U.S. Reps. Peter King and Lee Zeldin, in criticizing the House
GOP leadership for scheduling a vote on a controversial tax
bill that would make restrictions on State and Local Tax
(SALT) Deductions permanent.
“This legislation unfairly targets our hardworking constituents while subsidizing most of the rest of the country. We
have made it clear to the entire House leadership, including
the speaker and Majority Leader, that we strongly oppose
HR 6760 and will not only vote against it but will denounce it
publicly,” Donovan, King and Zeldin said in a joint statement.
“We have had enough of other states being enriched at
the expense of New York taxpayers who are once again being victimized on the altar of political gamesmanship and
expediency. If we don’t ﬁght for New Yorkers no one will,”
the three New York lawmakers stated. PK

NADLER SPEAKS OUT IN SPORTS
BETTING
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan-parts of Bay
Ridge-Bensonhurst), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, spoke out during a committee hearing on
sports betting in America, urging the panel to tread carefully.
“In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the Professional
and Amateur Sports Protection Act, otherwise known as
PASPA, which prohibited states from authorizing sports
betting, violated the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
In response, several states have enacted laws to allow
intrastate sports betting, joining Nevada, which had been
grandfathered because it allowed heavily regulated sports
betting prior to PASPA. Certainly, we should all acknowledge that there is already a huge volume of sports betting
taking place in this country, whether or not it is allowed by
law or regulated in any way,” Nadler said in his remarks.
“Whether it takes place through a local bookmaker, online through an oﬀshore sports book, or in a state where it
is legal and regulated, sports gambling has long been a part
of our culture. In fact, betting actually serves to generate a
substantial amount of interest in the sports themselves. We
cannot simply prevent sports betting by enacting laws to
prohibit it and pretend that it will go away,” Nadler added. PK

CARROLL CALLS ON THE CITY AND STATE TO SCREEN ALL
KINDERGARTNERS AND FIRST GRADERS FOR DYSLEXIA
October is Dyslexia Awareness
Month and to kick it oﬀ, Assemblymember Robert Carroll (D-Park
Slope-Borough Park-Victorian Flatbush) is calling on the governor, mayor, chancellor and legislature to fund
universal screening for dyslexia for
all kindergartners and ﬁrst graders.
Carroll’s plan would institute
curriculum changes in elementary
schools to utilize multi-sensory phonics based approaches as part of a
universal literacy program.
According to statement from Carroll, one in ﬁve students is dyslexic,
50 percent of fourth graders are not
reading at grade level, 75 percent of
students drop out in part because

they are poor readers and one in
seven adults is functionally illiterate.
“Our country is in the midst of a
literacy crisis and we aren’t doing
anything about it,” Carroll said. “A
disproportionate amount of the over
50 percent of students who aren’t
reading at grade-level are dyslexic
or have another language based
learning diﬀerence. But our literacy
problem touches all types of students –
and stems from improper curriculum
and a lack of screening of students for
phonological awareness issues.”
Universal screening at the kindergarten-ﬁrst grade level is currently
being done in seven states across
the country. According to Carroll’s

(Photo courtesy of Robert Carroll)

Assemblymember Robert
Carroll.
statement, research shows that early
intervention makes it much easier
and cheaper to remedy reading problems than if intervention occurs after
second grade. JA

BAY RIDGE COUNCILMEMBER INTRODUCES LEGISLATION FOR
ILLEGAL CONVERSION TASK FORCE
City Councilmember Justin
Brannan (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker
Heights-Bensonhurst) joined Queens
Councilmember Robert Holden to
introduce legislation creating a task
force that would report on illegal conversions and occupancies across the
ﬁve boroughs, and devise strategies
for the city to address them.
The interagency task force would
encompass and coordinate action
between the FDNY, Oﬃce of Special
Enforcement, the Department of
Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the Department of Buildings (DOB), the Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and
the Department of City Planning. The
task force would include one member
appointed by the public advocate and
three by the City Council speaker.

(EBrooklyn Media Photo by John Alexander)

Councilmember Justin
Brannan.
“Illegal conversions are a dangerous, exploitative practice of greedy,
lawbreaking landlords,” Brannan
said. “I support existing city law that
ﬁnes landlords for creating these illegal apartments, which cause unsafe,
poor living conditions that no tenant

wants. I am co-introducing this legislation because I believe we should do
everything we can to further deter
bad actors for ignoring the needs of
their tenants and neighbors in favor
of an extra buck.”
Brannan also acknowledged the
local impact of the legislation.
“I got into this job because I want to
ﬁght for all of my constituents, new
and old,” Brannan said. “But landlords who break the law to be unfair
to their tenants have no place doing
business in my district or in our city.
This task force will make us better,
smarter, and faster at dealing with
these violations of law.”
Having been introduced to the
Council, the bill will now go to committee hearings before it can go to a
vote on the Council ﬂoor. JA

A LOOK AT EUGENE’S BUSY SCHEDULE
Councilmember Mathieu Eugene
had a busy month in September. Here
is a look at just some of the events on
his calendar.
On Sept. 26, Eugene (D-Kensington-Prospect-Leﬀerts Gardens) took
part in a celebration on the steps of City
Hall marking the 50th anniversary of
Olympic gold medalist Bob Beamon’s
record setting long jump at the 1968
Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Earlier in the month, Eugene
joined Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other elected oﬃcials to announce the
creation of Shirley Chisholm State
Park in Central Brooklyn. The ﬁrst
phase of construction of the 407-acre
park is expected to be completed next
summer.

Photo courtesy of Councilmember Mathieu Eugene

Councilmember Mathieu Eugene (second from right) greets
participants at the recent Caribbean Wellness Day event at
Paerdegat Park.
Eugene also attended the APC Community Services Caribbean Wellness
Day at Paerdegat Park, where he met

with vendors from health care organizations and expressed his thanks for
their support of the community. PK

reparations are
well underway for
Bay Ridge’s biggest
weekend of the year – the
annual Ragamuﬃn Parade
on Saturday, Oct. 13 and the
Third Ave. festival on Sunday, Oct. 14. Thousands of
residents and visitors will
ﬂock to the neighborhood
for the much-anticipated
festivities.
The annual parade is
sponsored by Ragamuffin, Inc. and features
thousands of colorfully
costumed children dressed
up as everything from superheroes like Spiderman
and Wonder Woman to
“Walking Dead” zombies. It
runs along Third Avenue
from 76th Street to 92nd
Street.
This year’s grand marshal is Leo Lykourezos,
owner of Leo’s Casa Calamari at 86th Street and
Third Avenue. Michael
Esposito and Ted Nugent,
owners of Cebu restaurant

Janet and Jerry Kassar.

at 8801 Third Avenue, were
named men of the year.
The day after the parade,
Third Avenue becomes a
giant 24-block-long street
fair with sidewalk sales,
music performances,
games, rides, dance performances, outdoor cafes
and more. Sponsored by
the Merchants of Third
Avenue, the festival runs
along Third Avenue from
Bay Ridge Avenue (69th
Street) to 93rd Street from
noon to 6 p.m.
On Sunday, Sept. 30, the
Ragamuffin committee
held its annual luncheon
at the Bay Ridge Manor. A
packed room of elected ofﬁcials, community leaders
and small business owners
attended including U.S. Rep.
Dan Donovan, state Sen.
Marty Golden, Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis,
City Councilmember Justin
Brannan, New York State
Conservative Party Chair
Mike Long, Brooklyn Conservative Party Chair Fran
Vella-Marrone and 68th
Precinct commanding oﬃcer Captain Robert Conwell.

Frank Sena, Eleanor Schiano and Andrew
Windsor.
“On behalf of the Ragamuﬃn committee, I extend
a very warm welcome and a
huge thank you to all of you
for attending our annual
luncheon,” Ragamuffin
President Arlene Keating
said. “Your presence here
today, in addition to our
generous sponsors, allows
us to continue the Ragamufﬁn Children’s Parade, a Bay
Ridge tradition entering
our 52nd year.”
Keating introduced the
honorees who were each
presented with certiﬁcates
of merit and proclamations
from Donovan, Golden,
Malliotakis and Brannan.
Children can pre-register for the parade, or
register on the day of the
parade between 11 a.m. and
12:15 p.m. at Holy Angels
Catholic Academy, 74th
Street and Third Avenue.
Costume judging will
take place between 11:30
a.m. and 12:15 p.m. before
the march begins at 1 p.m.
Ragamuffin Inc. will

award prizes to the
children judged to be
wearing the most creative
costumes.
All kids will receive
some kind of gift, according
to Ragamuffin. In order
to be eligible for a gift, a
child must have ﬁlled out
a registration form prior
to the parade and must
have completed the entire

Paul Cassone, Dean Rasinya and Robert
Kassenbrock.
parade route all the way to
92nd Street.
Pre-registration forms
can be returned to a

earing up for Columbus Day.
The Federation of
Italian Americans (FIAO)
kicked oﬀ the lead-up to
its annual parade with its
yearly fundraising brunch.
The event, held at Sirico’s,
8023 13th Ave., on Sunday,
Sept. 30 honored this
year’s grand marshals:
New York State Supreme
Court Justice Joseph Bruno,
62nd Precinct Community
Aﬀairs Detective Stephen
Agosta, Principal of P.S. 748
for Global Scholars Ursula
Annio and past president of
Ben-Bay Kiwanis and FIAO
and Maimonides Medical
Center Trustee Frank
Naccarato.
President of FIAO Carlo
Scissura discussed the
signiﬁcance of the day.
“It’s an opportunity to do
two things,” he explained.
“One is of course to highlight the grand marshals
of the parade. There are
four great grand marshals
this year so we were very
excited to honor them,
highlight them and give
them the awards. It also
helps raise money for the
parade which is an expensive proposition. We had
one of our most successful
brunches ever, so we’re
really happy about it.”
The honorees were
selected based on exceptional community service,
Scissura said.
The importance of the
Brooklyn Columbus Day
Parade continues to be

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Corazon Aguirre

Detective Stephen Agosta, family members and friends.

Frank Naccarato Jr., Tenor Luciano Lamonarca, Frank Naccarato,
Anthony Naccarato and his son Frankie.
strong.
“I think for FIAO, it just
continues our community
involvement and now that
we have Il Centro, we’ll end

Jack Spatola, Ursula Annio and Carlo
Scissura.

the parade there and open
it for people to see,” he
said. “It adds a lot of value
and for the people of the
community, it is a day to

Jack Spatola, Frank Naccarato and Carlo
Scissura.

celebrate Italian culture.
It brings people out, and
helps neighborhood businesses. It’s just a fun day.”
The pre-parade mass will

Jack Spatola, Detective Stephen Agosta and
Carlo Scissura.

be celebrated on Saturday,
Oct. 6 at St. Athanasius
Church, 2154 61st St., at
10:15 a.m. The parade will
follow, kicking oﬀ at 1 p.m.

at the corner of 61st Street.
It will end in front of Il
Centro, 8711 18th Ave.
For more information,
visit www.ﬁaobrooklyn.org.

When Kelly Wolf arrived at Our Lady of
Grace Catholic Academy to take the helm as
principal last year, one of the first things she
did was put together a STEM Night during the
celebration of Catholic Schools Week in which
she challenged her students to come up with
projects that showed their creative sides.
“It was incredible,” Wolf told the Brooklyn Eagle. “They were building homes out of
marshmallows. They were building a car out
of boxes. The kids had such an enthusiastic response. The excitement in the gym was amazing.”
The various projects demonstrated the students’ talents in science, technology, engineering and math.
And the excitement the principal saw in her
students’ eyes that night gave her a bold idea.
Wolf’s plan came to fruition a few weeks
ago when Our Lady of Grace, a Catholic elementary-middle school located at 385 Ave. W
in Gravesend, officially opened its new STEM
lab.
The lab, which contains Chromebooks,
iPads and SMART Boards, as well as a 3D
printer, is fast becoming a popular destination
for students in the academy. The lab was organized by Stephanie Campanella, who teaches science to the school’s sixth, seventh and
eighth graders.
To go along with the new STEM lab, the
school has also introduced a new interactive
science curriculum.
Our Lady of Grace educates students from
kindergarten through eighth grade, and all
grades are getting the opportunity to work in
the lab.
Fourth graders, for example, are learning
about the systems in the human body and have
been spending time in the new lab to conduct
research. Students in the second grade are
learning about weights and measures and are
getting their share of lab time.
Sixth graders are learning about properties
of matter, according to Campanella, who said
they are using the lab to explore the difference
between an element and a compound by finding the mass, volume, and density.
In grade seven, the talk is all about atomic
structure and exploring the Periodic Table of
Elements.
“Eight elements were given to each group
and they had to create a Venn diagram to separate the elements into two different groups
based on their physical properties. Once separated, they needed to look up the element
and find out whether the element is a metal,
metalloid, or nonmetal,” Campanella told the
Eagle.
The eighth graders are busy learning about

The ribbon was cut on the new STEM lab.
heat and heat transfer and are exploring the
relationship between heat, kinetic energy and
temperature. Their lab works includes calibrating a thermometer, having water reach boiling
point and then having water reach the freezing
point, Campanella said.
“I was able to bring all three classes into
the STEM lab and they absolutely love it,” she
added.
Wolf said one of the best things about the lab
is the way the facility reinforces what students

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Arthur de Gaeta

are talking about in the classroom.
“The students prep in the classroom and then
go to the lab and get the chance for hands-on
learning,” said Wolf, who added that the lab
also helps teachers as they prepare their lesson
plans.
The Diocese of Brooklyn, which oversees
Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens, assisted Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy in
getting the plans for a lab off the ground, according to Wolf.

Faced with competition from public
schools, which are free, religious education
institutions in New York City that charge
tuition are coming up with all sorts
of ways to attract students and
increase enrollments.
Keeping pace with public
schools in STEM
appears to be one
way to do it.

OPEN HOUSE: Sunday, Oct. 21, 1-4 p.m.
Notre Dame Academy is a girls’ school founded by the Sisters of
the Congregation of Notre Dame in 1903.
Advanced Placement courses are offered in Computer Science,
Biology, Physics, Studio Art, Calculus, English Language and
Composition, US History and English Literature. The school is Middle
States-accredited and has a partnership with St. John’s University
Extension Program for college credits.
The school offers college level courses in French, Spanish,
psychology, theology and calculus. Other special courses include
chorus, music, advanced studio art, digital photography and graphic
design.
Students participate in activities such as the award-winning
drama program, forensics, National Honor Society, Interact, service
trips to Habitat and yearbook.
Sports include basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, swimming,
bowling, tennis, cross country, track and cheerleading.
Enrollment: 460; Tuition: $10,000. 100% of graduates attend college.
President: Sister Patricia Corley, CND; Principal: Kathryn Jaenicke;
Assistant Principals Jann Amato and Theresa Spear.

Our World Needs Innovative,
Compassionate, Moral Leaders.
THEY’RE FORMED HERE.
Now, as never before, the world needs thoughtful, highly
skilled leaders of outstanding character.
These are the young men and women of St. Edmund Prep,
inspired with a passion to learn and to use their knowledge and
skills to serve God, one another, and the world around them.

Doctors Joseph Weisstuch, Bret Rudy, David Gordon, Nicholas Gavin, Janet Yeh and Erich Anderer took part in the symposium.
BY PAULA KATINAS

medical facilities centered
PAULA@BROOKLYNEAGLE.COM
in Manhattan.
Lutheran Medical Center was merged into the
ighting against a
persistent public
NYU family in 2016 and its
perception that
name was changed to NYU
patients can get better
Lutheran Medical Center.
health care in Manhattan
In 2017, the name was
changed again, this time
than in Brooklyn, leading
to
NYU Langone Hospital
doctors at NYU Langone
Hospital – Brooklyn hosted – Brooklyn.
But while NYU Langone
a breakfast symposium on
Sept. 28 to tout the medical
is centered in Manhattan,
center’s success rate and to
Rudy and other medical
outline ambitious plans for
professionals at the breakthe future.
fast repeatedly sought to
assure news reporters
Dr. Bret Rudy, senior vice
and editors that the 450president and executive
hospital director, said NYU
bed Brooklyn hospital was
Langone Hospital – Brook- not a mere satellite of the
lyn, located at 150 55th St. Manhattan center, but a
in Sunset Park, provides
full-fledged, multi-faceted
“the same quality of care as
facility of its own with a
Manhattan.”
high-level of patient care
and an atmosphere that
Formerly known as
Lutheran Medical Center, fosters medical innovation.
NYU Langone HospiIt was a theme the medital – Brooklyn is part of
cal professionals returned
the larger NYU Langone
to again and again during
network of hospitals and
the 90-minute symposium.

F

“We want people to know
that they don’t have to go
across the river get good
health care,” said Dr. Janet
Yeh, assistant professor in
the Department of Surgery,
who treats breast cancer
patients.
One of the reasons NYU
Langone officials wanted to
set up shop in Brooklyn is
because research revealed
that many patients seeking
treatment at NYU Langone
in Manhattan were from
Brooklyn, according to Dr.
Joseph Weisstuch, the chief
medical officer.
“Thirty percent of the patients who left the hospital
in Manhattan came home
to Brooklyn,” he said.
The goal now is to convince Brooklyn residents
that they can get top-notch
care closer to home, Rudy
said.
NYU Langone Hospital –
Brooklyn is a certified Level
One Trauma center, meaning

that it is equipped to handle
all types of emergencies. It is
also an academic institution
where doctors are trained in
their specialties.
In addition to the hospital, NYU Langone runs
dozens of small, family
oriented health centers
around Brooklyn as well as
an ambulatory care center
at 6740 Fourth Ave. in Bay
Ridge.
Coming in 2019 is the
Perlmutter Cancer Center,
a 22,000-square facility
at 5718 Second Ave. that
will offer radiation and
infusion treatments for
patients with cancer or
blood disorders.
Meanwhile, there is
innovation going on in
many areas of the hospital,
according to doctors.
Robotic surgery, which
doesn’t involve robots but
allows doctors to use technology to perform minimally invasive surgery,

is becoming increasingly
common. The hospital has
done over 400 robotics
surgeries to date.
The hospital also uses
an electronic medical
records-keeping system
that follows a patient to
any part of the NYU Langone system, Brooklyn or
Manhattan. It is designed
to prevent duplication
and delays in getting vital
medical records to doctors
within the system.
A new system that is
currently being developed
would allow emergency
room patients to receive upto-the-minute bulletins on
their smartphones that will
enable them to learn which
doctor will be seeing them,
what medical tests they
can expect to undergo and
whether they will have to be
admitted into the hospital as
an inpatient or be released.
Dr. Nicholas Gavin, chief
of the Emergency Medicine,

said the emergency room
saw 80,000 patients last
year. The department has
made enormous strides in
reducing the time it takes
for an emergency patient
to be seen by a doctor, from
an average of 35 minutes to
an average of 12 minutes,
he said. “This is not happening anywhere else in
Brooklyn,” he said.
The Emergency Department has undergone
a renovation. “Bringing
the facilities up to speed is
something we are focusing
on,” Rudy said.
Dr. Erich Anderer, chief
of neurosurgery, said
that innovation in his department has meant that
patients with complex neurological issues who would
have ordinarily been transferred to an NYU facility in
Manhattan can now stay in
Brooklyn. “We used to treat
150 cases a year. We are up
to 500 cases a year,” he said.

Maimonides staffers marking the
occasion.
who was part
of the planning committee and
served as the
master of
ceremonies.
“Every year,
we get bigger
Diana Reyna with Alexander
and stronger,
Alvarez.
and we provide
more and more
who celebrated the culture, information to the commumusical performances
nity. Today is a very special
by Grupo Tumbao and
day. It happens to mark the
giveaways.
one year anniversary of
“This our third event,” Hurricane Maria hitting
said Alexander Alvarez, Puerto Rico.”

After a moment of silence
to remember those affected
by the massive devastation,
Deacon Julio Barrenche
addressed the crowd.
“This is an opportunity
to meet with your Maimonides family to celebrate this
significant contribution
made by Hispanics that
will help shaped this community,” he said. “We, as
Hispanics, understand our
responsibilities and are
always ready to work hard
to help those in need. We
are grateful for the opportunity that has been given

Elizabeth Yeampierre.
to us, the challenges we face
and our great network.”
Diana Reyna, former
councilmember for the 24th
District and former deputy
borough president, was the
keynote speaker.
“Today we are embracing

culture and diversity and
recognizing the beautiful
Latino Diaspora, a mixed
race,” she said. “Personally,
I’ve been asked if I’m Indian or if I speak Spanish
because most don’t think
that I am Latina. Here
lies my journey, one that
is deeply rooted in this
great borough of Brooklyn. Thanks to the love and
sacrifice of my Dominican
parents, opportunities
blossomed.”
During her speech, she
discussed the hardship
her parents faced with
minimal education. Her
mother was a seamstress,
her father a factory worker and pizzeria owner.
“I know where I come
from,” she said. “I am one
generation away from a
family of farmers. As a
Latina, I celebrate with
you our accomplishments
in arts and culture, film
and media, politics and
business.”
The majority of the ceremony was heavily focused
on the one year anniversary
of Hurricane Maria hitting
Puerto Rico, which is reported to have claimed the
lives over 3,000 people.
Executive Director of

UPROSE Elizabeth Yeampierre spoke about the devastation and climate change.
“I am so grateful that this
is happening today in a hospital because we are living
in the age of climate change
and health care providers
are not prepared for the
impacts of climate change,”
she said. “People think
when a hurricane hits and
people die, that number is finite. They don’t understand
the implications of climate
change.”
The hospital awarded
Yeampierre and Reyna
plaques and flowers.
Luz Fonseca of Maimonides was also recognized for
relief efforts following the
hurricane.
“When Hurricane Maria
occurred, we got together
to talk about what Maimonides’ response was and what
we could do to support folks,
and the devastation of that
impacted island,” she said.
“We all just chipped in. Maimonides has the solidarity
to come through and help
out in time of need. This
is a family hospital where
anything that affects any
of us, whether it’s students
or nurses, it’s a time for
helping.”

Special Q&A with Renowned Psychologist Connie Jasmine Castro
BY JOHN ALEXANDER
JALEXANDER@BROOKLYNEAGLE.
COM

D

r. Connie Jasmine
Castro is a nationally certified school
psychologist. She is also a
licensed psychologist. She
has spent over 10 years
working with children, adolescents and their families.
She recently took a few minutes to explain her methods
of working with a variety of
populations.
Q: Please give us some
background about yourself.
What made you decide to
become a psychologist?
I initially decided to become a psychologist because
I enjoy helping others. I enjoy being part of a process
that brings self-awareness,
individual growth and inner
happiness to others.
I began my career working with children, adolescents and young adults. I
have extended my capacity
also to work directly with

their families, resulting in
the ability to work with all
age groups.
Psychology is a field that
permits me the opportunity
to assist others with any
concerns they would like
to discuss or work through
in therapy sessions.
Q: Tell us about your process of working with people
with special needs.
Depending on the type of
special need required by an
individual, several types of
support are typically needed. Therapy is one aspect
which can help positively
modify certain thoughts or
behaviors to improve an individual’s ability to react to or
function in daily situations.
For example, social
skills training is one type
of therapy that can be used
to teach the individual how
to relate to or engage with
others on a daily basis. Furthermore, therapy for their
caregiver, parent or family
member can also serve as a
support system.

Q: You enjoy working therapeutically with individuals
of all ages. Is there one particular age group you find most
rewarding to work with?
There is no one particular
age group I find most rewarding to work with. I prefer to work with all ages as
each age group brings forth
different types of thoughts,
behaviors and situations
relating to their stage in life.
This makes the therapeutic process more interesting
and rewarding as I am able
to witness different types
of positive changes and
individual growth in each
client.
Q: Please describe your
collaborative approach to
working with your patients.
My collaborative approach varies with the
age group. In summary, I
attempt to guide the client
and/or caregiver to identify
the thoughts, behaviors
and/or situations they
would like to work through.
If the client needs further

assistance with this, I facilitate the dialogue to help
create greater individual
self-awareness.
Q: What are some of the
various therapy methods
you provide?
The therapy methods
used are individualized to
each client. I am a believer
that there is not one method
of therapy that is the right
fit for all. I also believe that
it may be necessary to use
a variety of therapeutic

methods overtime.
In essence, the end result
is to have the individual
increase their cognitive
awareness which in turn
can improve the client’s
ability to understand and
positively modify their
behavior or reaction in
different situations. Furthermore, the therapy
methods used are even
more successful if the client feels understood by the
therapist.

Q: Is there anything else
you would like our readers
to know about you?
I am credentialed as a
provider for various health
insurance panels. I also
have private rates if you
don’t have health insurance,
or if I am not on your health
insurance panel. Please call
the Psychology Office of
Dr. Connie Jasmine Castro
PLLC at 917-991-1615 to make
an appointment, or if you
have any further questions.

I am a licensed psychologist and nationally certified
as a school psychologist. I have over ten years of
experience in working with children, adolescents
and their families. I also have experience in working
with special needs populations. I enjoy working
therapeutically with individuals of all ages. I offer my
clients a collaborative approach, including cognitive
behavioral therapy, and I individualize each clients’
therapy needs.

UPB – Brooklyn ENT
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
The ear, nose, and throat surgeons in the University Physicians of
Brooklyn faculty practice are the ONLY otolaryngology group practice
in Brooklyn that offers:

1. Comprehensive ear, nose, and throat care of children, including
breathing problems, hearing loss, ear infections, sinus disease, cleft lip
and palate.
2. State-of-the-art management for patients suffering from tinnitus (ringing
in the ear), including a full-time tinnitus specialist.
3. Cochlear implantation to restore hearing in profoundly deaf infants,
children, and adults.
4. Pediatric airway reconstruction, including laser, endoscopic, open
surgical and balloon-assisted procedures.
5. Minimally-invasive procedures for head and neck cancer, including laser
microsurgery, endoscopic skull base surgery, and transoral robotic
surgery.
6. Surgery for acoustic neuromas and invasive skull base tumors by a
fellowship-trained neuro-otologist.
7. State-of-the-art medical management of nasal and sinus problems with
image-guided surgery by a fellowship-trained rhinologist.
8. Rehabilitation of hearing and speech problems in infants and young
children in partnership with the Auditory Oral School of New York.
9. State of the art care provided by 100% fellowship-trained
Otolaryngologists with teaching appointments at SUNY Downstate
Medical Center.
10. Training for 15 otolaryngology residents in one of the most competitive
residency programs in the country.
11. Coordinated medical and surgical care at convenient practice locations
throughout Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, East
Flatbush, and Bay Ridge.
12. Access to some of the leading physicians in the field of otolaryngology,
with national and international reputations for excellence in research,
teaching, and patient care.
For more information on our providers, services, locations, and initial
registration forms to make your first visit more convenient, please visit our
website:

Art
FIRST THURSDAY
GALLERY WALK
The first Thursday of every
month‚ the galleries of
DUMBO stay open late,
hosting special events and
receptions. Neighborhood
restaurants and bars have
specials for First Thursday
patrons.
When: Thursday, October 4th,
6 – 8 p.m,
Where: DUMBO/Various
Locations
DIAMONDS
A new exhibition from New
York based artist Catherine
Mosely.
When: Wednesdays-Sundays
through October 7th, 12 – 6
p.m.
Where: DUMBO/A.I.R. Gallery
(155 Plymouth Street)
FIVE CENTS TO
DREAMLAND: A TRIP TO
CONEY ISLAND
This special exhibition
brings together highlights

– 6 p.m.
Where: Fort Greene/BRIC
House (647 Fulton Street)
THE LEAST ORTHODOX
GODDESS IV
Curated by Jasmine Wahi.
A group exhibition curated
by Jasmine Wahi featuring
works by Felipe Baeza,
Darío Calmese, David
Antonio Cruz, Delano
Dunn, Jonathan Gardenhire,
Billy Ray Morgan, Zachary
Richardson, and Kiyan
Williams.
When: Tuesday-Saturday
through October 20th, 11 a.m.
– 6 p.m.
Where: Prospect Park/ Jenkin
Johnson Gallery (207 Ocean
Avenue)
FOR WHICH IT STANDS
Participating Artists: Simone
Bailey, Christina
Barrera, Andrew
Demirjian, Stephan
Jahanshahi, Vandana
Jain, Katarina Jerinic, Jeff
Kasper & Christopher
Spinozzi, Josh
MacPhee & Jesse Purcell, Sal
Muñoz, Iviva Olenick, Manju
Shandler, Athena Soules–
NYC Light Brigade, Katherine
Gressel, Curator For Which it
Stands is a contemporary art
exhibition at the Old Stone
House & Washington Park
(OSH) offering a fresh take
on the flags of the American
Revolution and today,
including the contradictions
inherent in their symbolism.
Select artists reinterpret
flags associated with OSH’s
history as the site of the
1776 Battle of Brooklyn,
to consider how their
values are being upheld
today. Others envision bold
new flags for contemporary
local and global
communities.
When: Fridays through
October 24th, 3 – 6 p.m.
Where: Park Slope/Old Stone
House (336 3rd Street)
DEANNA LEE
Creates site-specific
installations consist of
masses of lines that evoke
various influences: organic
structures like plants, hair,
muscles, and fungi; natural
systems such as waves and
wind currents; geological
strata; and topographical
maps.
When: Daily through October
25th
Where: DUMBO/Main
Window (One Main Street)
EMPIRE SKATE: THE
BIRTHPLACE OF ROLLER
DISCO
Empire Skate: The Birthplace
of Roller Disco brings
the world of Empire to
life, exploring its role
as a cultural icon and a
community hub. Artifacts,
archival materials, video, and
first-hand interviews, come
together to share the stories
of the people who skated at
Empire during the 70s and
80s and will immerse visitors
in the sights and sounds

of the rink. Through the
examined histories of and
around Empire, connections
between roller skating and
larger narratives of race,
class, and urbanization in
America are uncovered.
Beyond the roller disco
movement, the exhibit
traces the history of roller
skating in the United States,
highlighting the diversity
of rinks around the country
and the unique history of
skating in New York City,
which was home to over 20
rinks at its skating peak.
When: Thursdays-Sundays
through October 14th, 12 – 6
p.m.
Where: Williamsburg/The
City Reliquary Museum (370
Metropolitan Avenue)
MAX DE ESTEBAN
The Binary Code series are
a colorful concoction of
collages that excite our
imagination and send the
viewer on a trajectory of
multiple narratives.
When: WednesdaysSaturdays through October
26th, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: DUMBO/Klompching
Gallery (89 Water Street)
BROOKLYN BEFORE
PHOTOGRAPHS, 1971–
1983
An exhibit of 18
South Brooklyn
photographs selected
by Joseph and Audrey
Anastasi from the 126
images in Mr. Racioppo’s
new book. These new digital
prints express a cross section
of the ongoing themes
in Larry’s work – family,
neighborhood, and religion.
He scanned and printed over
six hundred of his earliest
35mm and 120mm black
and white negatives for this
project.
When: Thursdays-Sundays
through October 27th, 1 – 5
p.m.
Where: Sunset Park/Tabla
Rasa Gallery (224 48th Street)
BLANKET STATEMENTS
A group exhibition of
three contemporary Native
American women abstract
artists — Gina Adams, Maria
Hupfield, and Marie Watt —
organized in collaboration
with Accola Griefen Fine Art.
When: Wednesdays-Sundays
through October 27th, 11 a.m.
– 5 p.m.
Where: DUMBO/Minus Space
(16A Main Street)
QUIETER PLACES
Marshall LaCount’s Quieter
Places paintings are a
collective approach to
places quieter than the city;
quieter than a mind treading
in traumas; quieter than
political despondency. These
Quieter Places are beyond
certain borders. They are
elsewhere, for they are not
places, they are images. In
this case, they are images
constructed by aching
hands and sore arms which
have managed to pull away

from other work, made in
less quiet places. Plaster is
shaped alongside acrylic
paint, wallboard, spray
paint. Graffiti and the
constant buffing of graffiti
get a nod. The works are
playful: primary colors
occupy measured spaces
in largely white fields of
textured plaster. This play is
a renegotiating of borders.
When: Daily Through October,
12 – 9 p.m.
Where: Greenpoint/Exhibit
Salon (182 Driggs Avenue)
THE BRIDGE THE BRIDGE
The Bridge! The Bridge!,
Robert Latchman’s first solo
exhibition at LAND Gallery,
as a title encapsulates the
commanding effect the
Brooklyn Bridge has on this
artist’s work. Latchman’s
fascination with the
Brooklyn Bridge began a
few years ago. Since then,
the bridge has served as his
main subject, completely
capturing the artist’s focus.
The Brooklyn Bridge is
not his only subject, but it
is a dominating one; the
work evokes permanence,
construction, and calls
attention to the history of
place.
When: Mondays-Fridays
through October 30th, 8:30
a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: DUMBO/Land Gallery
(67 Front Street)
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

TRAITOR MUSCLE
A New Commission and the
first major solo exhibition in
New York by Joseph Buckley.
The artist’s practice centers
on the relationship between
grief and postcolonialism.
Against a backdrop of
contemporary fascism,
Buckley employs a range
of visual and cultural
references—from sci-fi to
modernism to Doc Martens
to slave ships to Amazon’s
factory floor—asking us to
deeply consider society’s
divisions and fractures, using
the medium of sculpture
to investigate the psychic
technologies that enable
them.
When: Tuesdays-Saturdays
through November 3rd, 10
a.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: DUMBO/Art In General
(145 Plymouth Street)
ROBERT CUMMINGS
New drawings from
polymath artist Robert
Cumming. Cumming’s nudes
imply a compelling yet
elusive narrative informed
by his merging interests
in painting, sculpture, and
photography.
When: Tuesdays-Saturdays
through November 3rd, 11
a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where: DUMBO/Janet Borden,
Inc. (91 Water Street)
SPREAD WILD:
PLEASURES OF THE
YUCCA

Paula Wilson’s mixed-media
installation transforms
Smack Mellon’s industrial
space into a landscape
resembling the high desert
plains of New Mexico, where
the artist currently lives.
Central among the flora and
fauna depicted are the yucca
plant and yucca moth. Their
pollination ritual represents
a quintessential example of
mutualism, which Wilson
reimagines as a love scene.
She outfits the gallery’s
towering columns as larger
than life naturalists who act
as guides and observers of
the display. By portraying an
untold narrative of black and
brown environmentalists,
Wilson draws connections
between the human
rights and environmental
movements and offers
a paradigm for how
embracing the natural world
can engender harmony.
When: Wednesdays-Sundays
through November 4th, 12 – 6
p.m.
Where: DUMBO/Smack
Mellon (92 Plymouth Street)
BRIDGING TWO WORLDS:
THE LAND OF THE LIVING
AND THE LAND OF THE
DEAD
The exhibition brings
together artworks and
artifacts that speak to the
universal question: “what
happens to us after we die?”
When: Saturdays & Sundays
through December 2nd, 12 – 5
p.m.

Where: Green-Wood/GreenWood Cemetery Fort Hamilton
Gatehouse (500 25th Street)
TOWARDS A NEW
ARCHEOLOGY
This group show brings
together artists who
reevaluate the history of
material culture—presenting
installation and sculptural
works that speak to a
mystical, transcendent, and
visionary future. Towards a
New Archaeology features
work by Amy Brener,
Leeza Meksin, Sheila
Pepe (NWA’02), Ioanna
Pantazopoulou, Ester
Partegàs (NWA’09), Jean Shin
(NWA’07), and Rachel Eulena
Williams.
When: Daily through January
2019, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: Fort Greene/BAM
Peter Jay Sharp Building (30
Lafayette Street)
THE BUSINESS OF
BROOKLYN: AN
EXHIBITION ON THE
OCCASION OF THE 100TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE
BROOKLYN CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
An exhibition exploring the
past 100 years of business in
the borough. The story spans
booming factories, family
shops, iconic innovation,
and labor struggles. The
exhibition showcases
images and objects from
companies large and small
that thrived in Brooklyn,
including Domino Sugar,
Squibb Pharmaceuticals,

Schaefer Beer, Drake
Bakeries, Abraham & Straus,
Gage & Tollner, and many
others. It includes numerous
artifacts from the Brooklyn
Chamber’s history, including
a gavel that the Chamber
used to convene meetings
in the 1920s, the telephone
the Chamber used in its
first offices at 75 Livingston
Street, and a program for the
Chamber’s 50th Anniversary
Celebration, which honored
entertainer Danny Kaye. It
also includes treasures from
BHS’s collections, including
Eberhard pencil sets, Virginia
Dare bottles and glasses,
coasters and trays from
Brooklyn’s illustrious beer
brewing history.
When: Wednesdays-Sundays
through January 2019, 12 – 5
p.m.
Where: Brooklyn Heights/
Brooklyn Historical Society
(128 Pierrepont Street)
SOMETHING TO SAY:
BROOKLYN HI-ART
MACHINE
The Brooklyn Museum
highlights the work of
four Brooklyn artists
with Something to Say, a
yearlong activation of the
Museum’s public spaces
emphasizing the institution’s
important role as a place
for civic discourse. Bringing
together existing works
and new, site-specific
commissions by Brooklyn HiArt! Machine, Deborah Kass,
Kameelah Janan Rasheed,

ON FEAR AND
GOVERNANCE
With Anne Bogart and
Monica Youn In conversation
with Corey Robin.
When: Friday, October 5th, 6
p.m.
Where: Fort Greene/BAM
Fisher (321 Ashland Place)
NADYA TOLOKONNIKOVA
Feminist artist, activist,
and Pussy Riot founder
Nadya Tolokonnikova for
a discussion of her new
book, Read & Riot: A Pussy
Riot Guide to Activism,
which offers a timely guide
to radical protest and
joyful political resistance,
structured around her
revolutionary philosophies
and illustrated with stunning
examples from a life of
inspired action and creative
rebellion.
When: Tuesday, October 9th,
7:30 – 9 p.m.
Where: Brooklyn Public Library
(10 Grand Army Plaza)
IMMIGRANT WOMEN,
LABOR, AND THE QUEST
FOR GENDER JUSTICE
How can immigrant women

workers achieve safe and
just work environments free
from sexual harassment and
violence? Come to BHS as
Bernice Yeung, ProPublica
reporter and author of In
a Day’s Work: The Fight
to End Sexual Violence
Against America’s Most
Vulnerable Workers, shares
the harrowing experiences
she chronicles in her book.
She is joined by Rachel
Isreeli of the Center for
Family Life’s Cooperative
Development Program
in Sunset Park, which
organizes cooperatives in
the traditionally exploitative
domestic work industry.
Joanna Morales, a home
care worker, will share her
perspective as a workerowner of Golden Steps Elder
Care Cooperative.
When: Wednesday, October
10th, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
Where: Brooklyn Heights/
Brooklyn Historical Society
(128 Pierrepont Street)
SOUP & SIP WITH JULIA
TURSHEN AND NIK
SHARMA
Julia Turshen, Nik Sharma,
and Jarry are joining forces
to throw the book launch
party of the year at MOFAD!
To celebrate the release
of Now & Again by Julia
Turshen and Season by Nik
Sharma, we will serve special
soups from these cookbooks
prepared by the Brooklyn
party and fundraising series
Queer Soup Night. There

will also be small bites from
each recipe book prepared
by MOFAD chef John Hutt,
cocktails from Shannon
Mustipher, Brooklyn Brewery
beer, book signings, and a
conversation with Julia, Nik,
and Jarry Mag co-founder
Lukas Volger.
When: Wednesday, October
10th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Williamsburg/Museum
of Food and Drink (62 Bayard
Street)

Educational
NAVAL CARTOGRAPHY
AT THE BROOKLYN NAVY
YARD
Continuing the fall
discussion series,
“Wayfinding for the Wayfarer
and the Landlubber,” this
second talk investigates the
significant role cartography
– the science of drawing
maps – has had in shaping
world views, power, and
politics. Led by Andrew
Gustafson of Turnstile Tours,
the discussion focuses on
developments in navigation
and cartography at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard during
the 19th and 20th centuries,
with a focus on the Yard’s
role in scientific expeditions,
intellectual debates,
coastal surveys, and the
advancement of technology.
When: Thursday, Ocotber 4th,
6 – 7:30 p.m.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

MARGARITA ISLAND
PRESENTS

OKTOBERFEST

ALL WEEKENDs in October "$3 Tap Beers"
Indoor/Outdoor Venue
Music - Games and much more!!!!
Open on Weekends From 12PM to 2AM

Celebrate Columbus Day weekend with us
and Enjoy Happy Hour Prices.
Open Sat. Sun. Mon.

OCTOBER
Calendar of Events
Week of the 4th to 10th
continued from previous page

Where: Brooklyn Navy Yard/
Bldg 92
MONDO 2018
a global business conference
and festival uniting music
and technology. Emerging
artists, innovators and
industry insiders will
connect and collaborate
with fans in a mission to
advance human creativity in
an ever-changing world.
When: Daily through October
5th.
Where: Williamsburg/The
Williamsburg Hotel (96 Wythe
Avenue)
COMMUNITY HEALTH
FAIR
The event will feature a
range of vendors who will
present information on
health and community
services and provide free
health screenings. Service
providers at the fair will
include: Rite Aid (flu and
pneumonia shots), VNS
(Blood Pressure monitoring),
S & K Pharmacy, Consumers
Credit Union, Apple Bank,

NYU Langone, Children’s
Health Services, FDNY
(Fire Safety Education) as
well as JASA Caregivers,
a Psychotherapist,
Ophthalmologist,
Podiatrist, and the NYPD
Crime Prevention and
Neighborhood Community
Watch. There will also be
music and Yoga and Tai Chi
demonstrations.
When: Sunday, October 7th,
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: Coney Island/The
Warbasse Houses (Neptune
Avenue and West 5th Street)
MUSIKIDS
This class focuses on
basic development and
cognitive skills, socialization,
cooperation, and always a
sense of play.
When: Sunday, October 7th,
3- 4 p.m.
Where: Fort Greene/Brooklyn
Music School (126 St. Felix
Street)
BABY SIGN LANGUAGE
In this playful and

educational program,
students and caregivers
will learn the basics of
the language, including
numbers, colors, greetings,
family terms and more.
Students can practice and
grow their new language
skills through a variety of fun
activities such as songs and
games.
When: Tuesday, October 9th,
9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Where: DUMBO/Spark by
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
(1 John Street)
IPAD BASICS
Learn the basics of how
to use an iPad to browse
the internet, use email,
download apps, watch
videos, take pictures,
connect online and more.
iPads will be provided for
this class.
When: Tuesdays & Thursdays,
October 9th & October 11th,
1:30–2:45 p.m.
Where: Park Slope/Park Slope
Center for Successful Aging
(463A 7th Street)

Family Fun
Discovery Hike: Nocturnal
Insects
New York City is home to
an amazing abundance
of wildlife. Our Urban Park
Rangers will guide you to the
best wildlife viewing spots in
New York City.
Enjoy learning about the
diversity of noctunal insects
which inhabit our parks.

ANNUAL BLESSING OF LIVE ANIMALS
In the Spirit of St. Francis of Assisi

Moths, bees, and beetles are
only a few of the critters we
may be able to encounter.
When: Sunday, October 7th,
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Marine Park/Salt
Marsh Nature Center (East
33rdStreet and Avenue U)

Film
SHORT FILMS:
PSYCHEDELIC HORROR,
DRAMA AND SCI-FI
The festival is an ode to the
exploration of altered states
of consciousness created
by music, art, film and
psychedelia.
When: Friday, October 5th,
7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Where: Williamsburg/The
Spectacle Theater (124 S. 3rd
Street)
WAJIB + THE FILMS OF
ANNEMARIE JACIR
BAMcinématek presents
Wajib + The Films of
Annemarie Jacir, an exclusive
week-long run of Jacir’s
latest film and the first New
York retrospective of the
Palestinian filmmaker’s work.
Jacir will be in attendance
opening weekend for postscreening Q&As. The Films
of Annemarie Jacir includes
Jacir’s feature films Salt of
This Sea (2008—Oct 7) and
When I Saw You (2012—Oct
7). Salt of This Sea, which
screens with Like Twenty
Impossibles, depicts a

Brooklyn-born PalestinianAmerican woman who seeks
to reclaim the ancestral land
taken from her grandfather
in 1948. Jacir’s second
feature, When I Saw You
(2012—Oct 7), tells the story
of an 11-year-old boy who
runs away from a refugee
camp in Jordan and joins a
group of Palestinian guerilla
fighters following the SixDay War in 1967. When I Saw
You screens with Palestine,
Summer 2006 (2006), Jacir’s
short film about the political
gulf separating Jerusalem
and Ramallah.
When: Daily, October 5th
through 11th, see www.bam.
org for schedule
Where: Fort Greene/BAM
Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette
Avenue)
THE 11TH ANNUAL
BUSHWICK FILM
FESTIVAL
Founded in 2007, The
Bushwick Film Festival (BFF)
is a leading independent
film and media company
in Brooklyn. The festival is
hailed as one of Brooklyn’s
most influential cinematic
events for its contribution
to the borough’s artistic,
cultural, and economic
growth. The festival attracts
film and entertainment
industry leaders at national
and international levels;
and showcases films
created by the best and
most diverse emerging
independent filmmakers in

Brooklyn and worldwide.
BFF provides a platform
for emerging filmmakers
to share their stories and
present opportunities for
them to make a living doing
what they love. BFF provides
spaces for audiences from all
backgrounds to connect and
discover new independent
movies and experience
unique cultural events.
When: Daily, October 10th
through 14th,
Where: Bushwick/Syndicated
Bar Theater and various
locations (40 Bogart Street)

Flea Markets
BROOKLYN FLEA
With its mix of vintage,
repurposed, handmade, and
food vendors in a townsquare environment now
replicated around the world,
a decade later the Flea still
features many of the same
vendors from the original
2008 market, who have
become fixtures of Brooklyn
culture while emerging as
world-class dealers in their
individual niches
When: Saturday, October 6th,
10 a.m. – 5 pm,
Where: Industry City/Industry
City (274 36th Street)
GREETINGS FROM
NASHVILLE POP-UP SHOP
Curated by The Callaway, a
communications company
in Nashville founded in

Our Lady of Grace

Catholic Academy

Alumni Dinner
Friday, October 19th at 7pm
Following the honoree mass at 5:30pm
in Our Lady of Grace Church
- Dinner to be held in the Father Cutrone Gym -

Mass 10:30 – animals and their humans welcome
(for their safety, please have animals leashed or in carriers)
Animal Blessing and dedication
of new St. Francis statue – 11:30 am
All blessed pets receive special gifts and treats.
Reception following - treats will be available for
both pets and well-behaved humans!

Roseann Desiderio Silvery
Class of ‘74

Anthony Guarino
Class of ’63

Carl Bergonzo
Class of ‘69

The Late Angela Tabone
(Most Precious Blood Parish)

To purchase tickets,
please contact the School at 718- 375-2081
or the Rectory at 718-627-2020

DCA# 1015293. All final pricing will include sales tax and registration fees and include all applicable rebates & incentives which apply. Delivery
limited to the 5 boroughs & are for in stock vehicles only, all prices quoted are subject to Tier 1 credit approval 750 + Fico with primary lender
GM Financial. Upon delivery 2 forms ID are required and all sales are final. Must take delivery by 10/31/18 to qualify. DMV# 7059779.

2015 by former fashion
editor Libby Callaway, GFN
features a pop-up store filled
with clothing, accessories,
media, apothecary, home
goods, and art designed or
produced by over two dozen
of Nashville’s finest creative
companies. The store will
have one-of-a-kind items
and limited-edition designs
that are exclusive to the GFN
project, as well as vintage
collectibles and clothing that
pays homage to Nashville’s
historically inimitable style.
When: Daily through October
30th,
Where: Williamsburg/Wythe
Hotel (80 Wythe Avenue)

NEW YORK FARMERS
MARKET
A community-run market
and includes 23 local
gardeners, 3 regional
farmers, and 11 local
vendors. They have been
providing fresh produce,
homemade crafts, and a safe
public space for families in
East New York. Their market
is the only place in East New
York to find local and organic
produce and Caribbean
specialty crops like karela,
bora, and callaloo.
When: Saturday, October 6th,
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: East New York/East
New York Farmer’s Market
(Schneck Ave & New Lots Ave)

Health
5K CHARITY RUN/WALK
FOR POSITIVE TAILS
Calling All Animal Lovers.
Positive Tails’ first fundraising
5K run/walk to benefit
the animals of New York
City. Positive Tails works
to improve animal and
community welfare in NYC
by funding medical care for
abused animals, assisting
families who cannot afford
medical treatment for
their sick or injured pets,
and working to reduce the
population of unwanted
dogs and cats. Route
When: Saturday, October 6th,
9:30 – 11 a.m.
Where: Coney Island/Coney
Island Boardwalk (starting at
Parachute Jump to Brighton
15th Street)
Family Fun Series: African
Dance
Designed for the whole
family, explore traditional
African folklore and rhythms
through movement and live
drumming. All workshops
are 60 minutes long and
recommended for ages 6 and
up. No experience necessary.
When: Saturday, October 6th,
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Nightlife
MEANETH GIRLS
Celebrate Mean Girls Day
at Littlefield with Drunk
Restoration Comedy at
Meaneth Girls or, The
Tragedy of Regina George.
They’re going to make fetch
happen as Cady, The Plastics,

SOLUTIONS TO PUZZLES

EXP[LORE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES

The Air Force Reserve offers a variety of part-time job opportunities with full-time
benefits, including tuition assistance and low-cost health insurance. You may be eligible
for a signing bonus of up to $20,000 for specific part-time jobs.
Serving your country part-time as a Reserve Citizen Airman, at a base close to
where you live, gives you the opportunity to also pursue your civilian career or further
your education. It’s an ideal option for those who have never been in the military
as well as for those with prior military service in any branch.

From Thursday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Sept. 22, the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church of Bay Ridge hosted its annual Greek Culture Festival
where dozens of Greek delicacies were on display. The event, which ran from 84th Street to 86th Street on Ridge Boulevard, is a community fixture
focused on tradition -- evident in its food.
Week of October 4 - October 10, 2018, 2018 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator/Brooklyn Record/Greenpoint Gazette • 15INB

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Damascus Bakery
56 Gold St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 855-1456
Damascus Bakery is the home
of the original pita but owner Ed Mafoud tells us that
it’s broadened and expanded the baked bread line to
include Lavash roll-ups, Lavash wraps, Panini and Brooklyn Bred products. Damascus created the BakeSense
Roll-Ups for the sandwich lover looking for a great-tasting, thin, fit and all natural flatbread. And with its All
Natural Roll-Ups, feeling great never tasted so good!
www.Damascusbakery.com

Along with serving some of the
best pizzas and Sicilian pies in
the borough, Russ Pizza is also
known for its other delicious
menu items including the
mouth-watering meatball hero
and other hot hero sandwiches, cold subs and incredible
appetizers like Ham Calzone,
Garlic Knots and Stromboli!
www.russpizza.com

Wanisa is known for some
of the best home-style Thai food in the borough. Chef
and owner Tan recommends the spicy and delicious TomYum Soup! It has lemongrass, galangal, onion, mushroom, lime juice, chili and cilantro topped with evaporated milk. It’s a dish to warm both your heart and soul!
wanisahomekitchen.com

Jenara Barbershop Unisex
429 Seventh Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(347) 725-4400
As soon as you walk into Jenara
Unisex you feel the warm, friendly atmosphere. It offers incredible customer support. Ella says
that you can get a warm cup of
tea or coffee as you let the team
of trusted professionals take
care of all your grooming needs!
Jenarabarbershop.com

201 E. 69th Street, Suite 2C
New York, N.Y. 10021
Sarrica Physical Therapy & Wellness has a great team in place
to help with all of your physical therapy and wellness needs.
Led by Marcello Sarrica, they are
a highly trained and experienced
group specializing in a wide variety of pain conditions, injuries, chronic diseases and performance training. And they
provide personalized therapy programs in both of their locations!
Sarricapt.com

Three Guys from Brooklyn is
known for having the freshest produce in the borough, and for its
commitment to neighborhood
causes. They want people to know
about the upcoming Oct. 21 Bike
to Battle MS event. This one hits
especially close to home. It’s in
loving memory of Phillip C. Penta,
one of the original three guys, who
recently lost his battle with MS.
3guysfrombrooklyn.com

Real Estate lawyer Pete Weinman
has quite an impressive resume.
He prides himself on helping handle all your real estate concerns.
And Pete’s list of community service activities is literally Staten Island wide. But aside from all
his good works, he most enjoys
spending as much time as possible
with his family, riding his motorcycle and competing in marathons!
www.StatenIslandLaw.com

The Kings Beer Hall
84 St. Marks Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(347) 227-7238
The Kings Beer Hall has a lot going on this month! First, it’s Oktoberfest and there’s no better place to celebrate than KBH.
It has 22 beers on tap and four
weeks of fun events including Stein Holding, Costume Contests and Boot Chugging! Check
out the website for more info.
www.thekbh.com

The Shawnee Inn
100 Shawnee Inn Drive
Shawnee on the Delaware, Pa. 18356
(800)-742-9633
If you’re looking for an overnight getaway in the Poconos, Shawnee Inn is the perfect place to escape to and enjoy all the fun activities and autumn foliage. And it offers the perfect package to suit your specific needs.
Shawnee evokes an atmosphere of old world charm
in one of the most scenic settings in the northeast!
www.shawneeinn.com

Theatre
for Kids
and of
Families
Park Slope
Children Discover
a ‘World
Wonders’Opens
at Early in
Childcare
Center
By John Alexander
INBROOKLYN

Play Nice Theatre has begun its season of lighthearted musicals with positive, life-aﬃrming messages about
cooperation and kindness. And they’re looking for their
July/August cast, musicians, and backstage helpers.
Relocated from Manhattan, this all-volunteer company’s rehearsals and meetings reﬂect their mission and
message by encouraging its mixed-generation cast and
crew (ages 6 to 106) to interact socially and share stories
of their own lives on and oﬀ stage.
In a welcoming atmosphere, the experienced and new
Play Nice actors and crew are encouraged to come early
and linger after assigned rehearsal slots in order to get to
know each other, help each other memorize their lines,
do school homework and play games. Some may choose
to help with scenery painting or prop-making.
All ticket sales from main stage shows ($10 admission) is donated to local charities, a prime motivation
for many participants who ﬁnd it rewarding to help raise
money for those less fortunate through donating their
time and talent.
According to theatre founder Rob Lester, the cast and
crew are like a second family. “Working on a show with

By John Alexander
INBrooklyn

friendly people is fun and satisfying,” he says.
The Brooklyn Eagle stopped by the new location at 89
Fourth Avenue, ﬁve blocks from Barclays Center, where
the two-act musical “The Three Little Pigs Buy
a Brownstone in Brooklyn” is running on
weekends (2 p.m. Saturdays, 3:30 p.m.
Sundays, through July 1).
The Eagle is mentioned prominently
in
the
Brooklyn-centric script in Scene 6 and the
newspaper is used as a prop as
well. The show’s target audience is ages six and up, with
plenty of humor adults will
appreciate.
“Two
six-year-olds
are
among the actors, with the
oldest member more than
ten times their age, and the
family idea is reﬂected literally: the cast includes two
brothers who play two of the
pigs; a mother and her son have
a scene together as an older pig

and hedgehog; two actors are cousins,” we’re informed.
Original lyrics are set to public domain melodies
including old folk songs and classic children’s tunes.
The show, which emphasizes “being a good neighbor,”
plus patience, perseverance, and pig puns runs
through July 1, will be followed by show
after show, starting with the summer musical about kids and counselors at an
unusual summer camp, titled “Not a
Happy Camper.”
The theatre welcomes audition
appointments, visits, donations of
costumes and supplies, and all inquiries throughout the year. Acting classes, puppet shows, concerts, one-day free workshops,
variety shows, and special family events are planned and a fundraising concert on July 20.
For more details, show times,
tickets, and contact information,
go
to
www.PlayNicePeople.
com.

It’s a virtual wonderland of learning at
World of Wonders Early Childcare Center.
For over 10 years, the in-demand childcare
location has been providing nurturing childcare with a developmentally appropriate curriculum for children ages two to six in the
heart of Brooklyn.
On Wednesday, Sept. 26, World of Wonders hosted a grand opening for its newest
center at 6705 13th Avenue in Dyker Heights.
Photos are from the
It included
food, balloons and a traditioncurrent
production
of “The 3 Little Pigs
al ribbon-cutting
ceremony
with friends,
Buy
a Brownstone
in
Brooklyn”
familyPhotos
and by
theJarrett
parents
Scottof children who attend World of Wonders, including Marcello
Sarrica of Sarrica Physical Therapy and
Wellness, whose children are enrolled at the
center.
One of the center’s major supporters is
community leader Carlo Scissura, president
and CEO of New York Building Congress.
Scissura’s daughter Teresa Rose is a recent
graduate of the daycare.
Jeannine McKenna started World of Wonders from her home in 2000. She opened the
first World of Wonders Early Childcare Center in 2008 at 7219 New Utrecht Avenue. Her
goal was to create a safe, nurturing environment for children with age-appropriate programs that would allow them the opportunity
14INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator/Brooklyn Record/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of June 14-20, 2018
to learn new skills while at the center.
Each classroom is geared to foster a child’s
Colleagues gather for the World of Wonders ribbon-cutting ceremony.
cognitive, emotional, physical and social development. The various learning centers are
designed to help stimulate children’s early
literacy skills. In addition, each classroom
features various learning centers focusing on
math, science, drama, writing, art and computer skills.
McKenna’s efforts were so successful that
in 2014 she opened a second World of Wonders at 7215 New Utrecht Avenue. This week
McKenna, her husband Bobby, and their children Bobby, Bryan and Meagan celebrated
the opening of their third daycare.
World of Wonders offers a variety of childcare programs including ones specifically
designed for two-year-olds, three-year-olds,
and full time pre-k.
The staff consists of New York State certified teachers and group teachers who have
obtained their Bachelor’s degree in early
childhood education. They are fully licensed
by the New York State Department of Health
Bureau of Day Care.
For more information, go to The balloon lady entertains children at the
worldofwondersdaycare.com daycare center.
Students having fun at the World of Wonders daycare center.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams
has started a petition on Change.org to have
the Municipal Building in Downtown
Brooklyn renamed after Brooklyn’s most
famous U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Hon.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Justice Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn,
raised in Flatbush and attended James
Madison High School before she went to
Cornell University and Columbia Law
School.
“The life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a
quintessential New York story. She grew up
in Flatbush, the daughter of Jewish immigrants,” said Adams’ Change.org petition.
“Despite family tragedies that struck Justice
Ginsburg early in life, including the death of her
6-year-old sister and early passing of her mother Celia, she rose to the apex of her profession,
staying true to her ideals and principles.

This Joralemon Street building, known as
the Brooklyn Municipal Building.

Brooklyn Eagle file photos by Rob Abruzzese

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become an icon,
affectionately referred to as the ‘Notorious RBG.’
In an era where popular culture puts performing
artists and sports stars on a public pedestal, Ruth
Bader Ginsburg has risen to incredible levels of
iconic admiration and love.”
Visit brooklyneagle.com for a full report.

Brooklyn is a big place
with so many choices!
Let our real estate section
make you feel at home.

Brooklyn Eagle Group

Eye on Bedford Avenue

Come See Williamsburg’s Bedford Ave.,
Before or After the L-Pocalypse Starts

THE AREA IS A MAGNET:
When the L train stops running from Manhattan
to Brooklyn, this will still be a prime place to
• For tourists.
party.
• For young people who want to be where other
We’re talking about the area around the Bedford young people congregate on Saturday nights.
Avenue L train station in Williamsburg.
• For Brooklyn residents who want to shop at

Apple and live closer to the store on the corner of
North 3rd Street and Bedford Avenue than the one
near Barclays Center in Fort Greene.
• For real estate nerds like us who are fascinated
by Williamsburg’s jumble of architectural styles.

ABOVE: Welcome to Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue, the home of upscale retailers such as Space NK. See next page.

Come See Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue,
Before or After the L-Pocalypse Starts
By Lore Croghan
INBrooklyn

When the L train stops running from Manhattan to Brooklyn,
this will still be a prime place to party.
We’re talking about the area around the Bedford Avenue L
train station in Williamsburg.
The area is a magnet:
• For tourists.
• For young people who want to be where other young people
congregate on Saturday nights.
• For Brooklyn residents who want to shop at Apple and live
closer to the store on the corner of North 3rd Street and Bedford
Avenue than the one near Barclays Center in Fort Greene.
• For real estate nerds like us who are fascinated by Williamsburg’s jumble of historic rowhouses, spiffed-up factories, garish
new apartment buildings and entertaining restaurants and shops.

The street and sidewalks are a bit chaotic around the Bedford
Avenue and North 7th Street subway entrance because of construction that’s already underway though subway tunnel repairs haven’t
yet begun. See related story.
Even so, it’s great fun to stroll in a loop down Bedford Avenue to Grand Street then up Berry Street and back over on
North 7th Street to the subway entrance.

Fancy British Cosmetics and
A Former Sweater Factory

We took lots of photos when we walked this
route the other day. You can find a full set of
them at brooklyneagle.com.
Highlights of our stroll include the fab oldfashioned rowhouse with a classic wooden storefront at 229 Bedford Ave. Its retail tenant is a
British cosmetics retailer called Space NK.
The entrance to Whole Foods at 238 Bedford
Ave. was filled with a wall-to-wall display of
potted orchids for sale.
We love the former sweater factory at 218
Bedford Ave. that’s now a loft apartment building
with a mini-mall on the ground floor. It was one
of the neighborhood’s first industrial-to-residential
conversions. Nearby, Senko Funeral Home at 213
Bedford Ave. is another eye-catching property.
The wedge-shaped building at 292 Bedford
Ave. on the corner of Grand Street is at least a
century old.
A cocktail bar called Kill Devil House of
Dark Spirits recently opened there.

Nostalgia Alert:
Gant Shirts Are Sold on Berry Street

On the corner of Berry and North 4th streets,
a 1930s factory called the Lewis Steel Building is
now a loft apartment complex. The two-story
former factory at 160 Berry St. has a funky
mural on a side wall that depicts a giant squirrel. A Shake Shack is located there.

We love the row of old-fashioned houses that starts at 107 North
5th St., where a shop called ID Menswear is located, and extends up
Berry Street to the corner of North 6th Street.
Gant, the clothing maker best known for its button-down shirts,
is housed in a handsome low-rise building on a Berry Street corner.
Its address is 115 North 6th St.
There’s a glassy four-story condo building on another Berry
Street corner. Its look is very typical of 21st-century Williamsburg.
Its address is 120 North 7th St.

RETAIL VACANCIES ABOUND NEAR
THE BEDFORD AVENUE L STOP
By Lore Croghan
INBrooklyn
L-mageddon already has a prime span of Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue in its grip.
The L train shutdown between the Bedford Avenue station and Manhattan doesn’t
start until next April. But construction machinery already clogs the streets outside the L
train stop at the intersection of Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street.
The North 7th Street block between Bedford and Driggs avenues is closed to vehicular
traffic for construction in the road bed. A sign posted there says the closure will continue
until June 2019.
Work is underway to make improvements on the Bedford Avenue station. An online
posting by the MTA says two new street-level stairways are being added to the station’s
Bedford Avenue entrance, and two others are being added to its Driggs Avenue stop.
The current construction in the street and the looming threat of diminished numbers
of shoppers, diners and drinkers coming from Manhattan are apparently making vacant
storefronts a bit harder to fill with tenants.
When we were strolling around the area the other day, we made a list of empty
ground-floor spaces. Afterwards, we tracked down some details about the vacant properties. What follows is a sampler of them.
— Continued on page 23INB —

ABOVE: The handsome building at right is 107 North 5th St. on the corner of Berry Street.

Retail Vacancies
Abound Near the
Bedford Avenue L Stop

INBrooklyn photo by Lore Croghan

By the way, when we talk about Bedford Avenue leasing
deals, we’re talking big bucks.
In the Real Estate Board of New York’s most recently published survey, which was for the Winter 2018 time period,
Bedford Avenue between Grand and North 12th streets was
tied with Downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall as the commercial corridors with the priciest ground-floor retail asking rents
in our borough.
The median asking rent for both locations was $350 per
square foot per year, the survey indicates.
Also, Bedford Avenue’s range of ground-floor retail asking
rents — from $138 to $600 per square foot per year — had
the highest ceiling among Brooklyn commercial corridors.
The next highest retail rent range was on Fulton Mall, with
a low of $320 and a high of $400 per square foot per year.

Bernstein signed the deeds for these properties the firm
purchased, Finance Department records show.
• A sign on the door at vacant 184 Bedford Ave. says there
is space for rent on the building’s ground floor, second floor
and lower level. There’s 3,200 square feet available on each
floor.
Finance Department records show RedSky Capital bought
184-186 Bedford Ave. through an LLC for $20.675 million in
2014.
• A handbag maker called Min & Mon formerly occupied
now-vacant 190 Bedford Ave. This building belongs to RedSky Capital, which paid $13.181 million for it through an LLC
in 2016, Finance Department records indicate.
• A sushi restaurant called Mizu formerly occupied nowvacant space at 192 Bedford Ave. RedSky Capital bought the
building through an LLC for $12.25 million in 2015, Finance
Department records indicate.
• Leasing agents have posted RedSky Capital’s name and
a rendering in the windows of vacant 204-206 Bedford Ave.
According to the signage, the available space in this build-tosuit project will include 3,558 square feet on the property’s
ground floor, 3,708 square feet on the second floor, 1,195
square feet on the roof and 3,112 square feet on the lower
level.
RedSky Capital purchased the property through an LLC
for $19 million in 2014, Finance Department records show.

A Busy Market Has Closed

Three of the Four Storefronts on

Continued from page 22INB

Big, Big Asking Rents

Avenue

Eye on Real

E State

• Just north of the intersection of North 7th Street, there’s
A Prime Corner Are Vacant
empty ground-floor space at 168 Bedford Ave., whose tenant
At the intersection of Bedford Avenue and North 6th Street,
had been a restaurant called Peter’s Since 1969. Its signature just one corner storefront is occupied.
dish was rotisserie chicken.
It’s 200 Bedford Ave., where Brooklyn Fox Lingerie is lo• On the opposite side of the street at 177 Bedford Ave., a cated. The retail spaces on the other three corners are empty:
Korean gastropub called Sujo has closed.
• Uva Wines & Spirits moved out of 199 Bedford Ave. to
• The first thing L train riders to Williamsburg used to see
when they came out of the Bedford Avenue subway station a location farther away from the Bedford Avenue L train stawas now-closed Khim’s Millenium Market. In fair weather, it tion.
An entity called 199 Bedford Corp. with Kenneth Firpo as
had a big outdoor display of cut flowers for sale, arrayed in
president
owns 199 Bedford Ave., having purchased it for
big buckets.
The store was located in an eye-catching old-fashioned $575,000 in a 1999 estate sale, Finance Department records
show.
brick rowhouse
185mini-park
Bedford Ave.
the corner
of North
Greenpoint
Landing’satnew
has aon
grassy
lawn with
a great view•ofGarry
the Empire
Stateand
Building
the United
Steinberg
Jaime and
Schultz
of LeeNations.
& Associates
7th Street.
are
marketing
a
575-square-foot
retail
space
and a 260-squareThe beautiful building belongs to an LLC with Jerry
Lebedowicz as managing member, city Finance Department foot retail space at 196-198 Bedford Ave., where now-departed
New York Muffins had been located. The two spaces can be
records indicate.
Jerry and Lucy Lebedowicz owned it until 2009, then combined into a single space, their online marketing material
transferred their ownership of the property to the LLC. They says.
The building belongs to Northside Properties Inc. with
had bought it for $42,750 in a 1985 estate sale, Finance DeJoseph Lentini as president, Finance Department records inpartment records show.
dicate.
• The storefront at 197 Bedford Ave. is vacant. Prior tenants
An Investment Firm Owns Vacant Spaces
RedSky Capital, a Brooklyn-based real estate investment include a combination coffee shop-restaurant-live jazz venue
firm founded by Benjamin Bernstein and Benjamin Stokes, called Blackbird Parlour.
According to Finance Department records, the building
owns several vacant retail spaces on the Bedford Avenue
belongs to Andrew Lee and Christine Mark.
blocks between North 7th and North 5th streets.

Saints Simon and Jude Roman Catholic Church (near Van Sicklen Street and Avenue T in Gravesend) hosted an NYPD appreciation mass last weekend at the church. NYPD officers present included Brooklyn South Chief Charles Scholl. The parents of slain Police Officer Wenjian Liu were present. Msgr. David Cassato, Msgr. Robert Romano, Father John Maduri and Father Sijo George
participated in the mass. Cassato spoke about the dedication of police officers in protecting the community and taught about St. Michael the Archangel as the patron saint of law enforcement.
Retired NYPD Detective Daniel Sprague played the bagpipe as his son Owen, who suffers from Down Syndrome, marched by his side.
Brooklyn Eagle photo by Arthur De Gaeta

Plymouth Church Hosts ‘Centered in Song’ Festival
Plymouth Church invites Brooklyn Heights
to become “Centered in Song.”
The full-day program, on Saturday, Oct. 6, is
the Center for Congregational Song’s final official launch event in a series of regional launches
since the fall of 2017.
The Hymn Society in the United States
and Canada last year launched the Center for
Congregational Song as its new resources and
programmatic arm. These events celebrate the
importance and power of congregational song.
The Plymouth Worship and Arts Ministry
hosts this program that features master song
leader Mark Miller, who will lead a presentation
on singing justice.
Composer and author Ana Hernandez will
lead worship and a session on rote-song singing.
Other presentations will include an introduction
to the Center for Congregational Song, led by
the center’s founding director Brian Hehn, who
will introduce the center and its mission.
Plymouth member Jacque Jones, a recent
past president of the Hymn Society, will lead a
breakout session on hymn text writing.
The day will conclude with a rousing hymn
festival led by Mark Miller and Brian Hehn.
This daylong song festival is expected to be
of particular interest to sacred music profes-

Mark Miller

Brian Hehn

Ana Hernandez

sionals and those interested in the creation and
use of congregational song. Admission is free,
but registration is required (https://bit.ly/2NZiX7X).
The hymn festival portion, starting at 5
p.m., open to the public and held in the history-rich Plymouth sanctuary on Orange Street
in Brooklyn Heights, will focus on “Singing
Justice.”
During the workshop portion of the day,
Hehn will introduce the concept of Sing Justice

in a presentation titled “Serve and Sing.” Participants will sing great hymns of the faith while
writing notes of encouragement to the professionals who assist the victims of abuse and trafficking. Plymouth’s Anti-Trafficking Ministry
will then use these notes.
During another presentation in the Plymouth
Sanctuary, Miller will explore themes of justice
in worship and music.
There will also be some free time for participants to experience guided tours of the church

that Plymouth History Ministry members will
lead, and for shopping in Plymouth’s Underground Thrift Store, which supports anti-trafficking agencies.
Participants are responsible for their own
lunches. Plymouth is a block away from several
eateries on Henry St.
More information about the Center for Congregational Song may be found at congregationalsong.org. For information about Plymouth Church, check out plymouthchurch.org.

Glenn Mohr Chorale Presents ‘Deep
River: America’s Songs of Faith’
The Glenn Mohr Chorale, in two Brooklyn and one Queens concert,
will present “Deep River Celebrates America’s Songs of Faith.”
Through song, drama and storytelling, the Glenn Mohr Chorale celebrates the diverse voices that created some of America’s most enduring
and inspirational songs, including “Amazing Grace,” “Simple Gifts,”
“How Great Thou Art,” “Blessed Assurance” and “The Star Spangled
Banner.”
The chorale will bring “Deep River” to the Knights of Columbus (349
Quentin Rd.) on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m.; and to St. Saviour Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope (611 Eighth Ave.) on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2:30 p.m.
The third concert, on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m. takes place at the
United Methodist Church of Floral Park (35 Verbena Ave., Floral
Park).
Free will offerings requested.

Righteous King Hezekiah Is
Topic of Lunch & Learn Series
Scripture portrays Hezekiah (c. 715 to 686 BCE) as a righteous
and powerful King of Judah who purified and repaired Solomon’s
Temple, purged its idols, and reformed the priesthood.
He will be the subject of a new series at the Brooklyn Heights
Synagogue now through January thanks to Rabbi Serge Lippe’s
presentation of “Lunch and Learn: The Reign of Hezekiah: King
of Judah.” The text will be Everett Fox’s Translation of the Book
of Kings
Those who want to learn about the post-Davidic defeat of the
Philistines, the destruction of idolatrous high places and the restoration of Passover as a pilgrimage festival, may register for the
course, which convenes on Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
starting Oct. 4.
The series is free for members; $36 for non-members.

Photos courtesy of The Hymn Society

THIS WEEK IN
FAITH HISTORY
On October 2, 1954, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “A service in the Mohawk-Oneida
dialect, the only regular American Indian language service in the city, will be resumed at
9 p.m. tomorrow at the Cuyler Presbyterian
Church, 358-360 Pacific St. Rev. David Munroe
Cory, Th.D., is the pastor. The service will follow the evening communion and the Iroquois
choir will sing.”

MORRISSEY WHITE,
Patricia -- 95, the wife of
the late Bernard M. White
and the mother of the late
Marie Gillespie Kelly died
September 12th at her
home in West Milford, New
Jersey. Born in Park Slope,
Brooklyn to Patrick and
Elizabeth Morrissey she
lived in Brooklyn before
moving to West Milford 28
years ago.
Pat is survived by her
children and loving spouses, Bernard and Marion
White of Staten Island, Joseph and Anita White of
Lido Beach, Beth and Jack
McCue of Georgia, Patti
and Bobby Hammond of
Brooklyn, Margi White of
Brooklyn, and Kathleen
and Jimmy Farrell of Scotch
Plains, New Jersey.
A devoted mother of
seven children, 15 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, was a member of
St. Francis Xavier Church in
Park Slope, Our Lady Queen
of Peace Church in Hewitt,
and the Pinecliff Lake
Community Club in West
Milford. Pat was always
generous with her time to
support the institutions
which provided her and
her family with Christian
values and social morals. Pat
was the President of the St.
Francis Xavier Rosarians,
and the Chairlady of the St.
Francis Xavier Reunions.
While at Our Lady Queen of
Peace Church she prepared
many children for their
First Holy Communion,
lectured at weekly mass
and provided communion to
the sick at Chilton Hospital.
At Pinecliff Lake she was
fondly known as Mrs. Bingo,
running the weekly kiddie
bingo games for 20 plus
years and was the President
of the Ladies Beach Club. She
also served as President of
the West Milford Garden
Club. Pat will always be remembered for her positive

(718) 745-1600
outlook on life, her warm
sense of humor and her genuine empathy for those less
fortunate than herself. All
who knew her either at 260
Garfield Place or 8 Milford
Lane knew the door was
always open and you would
be warmly welcomed with
much laughter
In lieu of flowers, donations to Valley Hospital
Hospice Foundation, 223
North Van Dien Avenue,
Ridgewood, N.J. 07450
would be greatly appreciated. All services arranged by
Clavin Funeral Home.

+++

Henry’s
Specializing
inFlorist
Flowers
718-238-3838

8103 5th Avenue (Bet. 81st & 82 Sts.)

For All Occasions
Specializing
inin Flowers
Specializing
Flowers
1-800-543-6797
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Inc.

ON OCT. 2, 1937, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The
Hugo L. Black-Ku Klux Klan fight has only just begun, in the
opinion of many well-informed Washington observers. The
new Supreme Court justice’s sensational radio address last
night, estimated to have been heard by upwards of 31,000,000
persons, received a widely varying reception among high Government officials, but the majority still remained critical. Although no plans were announced by the leaders of the battle on
Black’s appointment, there was a definite hint of impeachment
proceedings in one quarter … In the meantime the new justice is preparing to take his place on the bench of the highest
court in the land on Monday when it reconvenes after its usual
Summer recess … President [Franklin D.] Roosevelt, whose
statement on the case at the White House some time ago was
believed responsible for Mr. Black’s finally taking cognizance
of the charge that he is a life member of the Klan, did not hear
the broadcast.”


8519 4th Avenue, 2nd Flr.
Brooklyn, NY 11209
718-921-1818

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We accept all major credit cards

ON OCT. 3, 1946, the Eagle reported, “A veterans hospital
for Brooklyn, one of the borough’s top-flight projects for years,
was in the blueprint stage today. Col. W.F. Heavey, district engineer of the army’s corps of engineers, announced at district
headquarters, 120 Wall St., Manhattan, that the architectural
design had been approved and that architect-engineers have
been directed to proceed with working drawings. The site of
the facility, which covers 18 acres at Fort Hamilton, is bounded by Cropsey Ave. Extension, 1st Ave., MacArthur Ave. and
Dyker Beach Park. Plans call for a main building and facilities
for 1,000 beds, nurses quarters, separate buildings for attendants and staff, and a powerhouse, garage and laundry in a service building.”


ON OCT. 4, 1946, the Eagle reported, “The century-old Penny Bridge at the foot of Montague St., picturesque as it was,
could no longer stand in the way of progress. The small metal
footbridge which spanned the street where it cuts deeply from
Brooklyn Heights to the East River, mecca of youngsters and
nursemaids of the area by day and haven of spooners at night,
has been torn down in the interests of the Brooklyn-Queens
Connecting Highway. Engineers at Borough Hall today said
that the present ramp will be filled in to bring everything to the
upper level … Once before, in 1934, the span was in danger
– but that time it was saved by the protests of aroused Brooklynites … One of the small bridge’s attractions was the splendid view of the Manhattan skyline it afforded. According to
borough engineers, this view will be vastly improved by the
improved park at the foot of the street now planned.”

ON OCT. 6, 1892, the Eagle reported, “Tennyson is dead.
His demise was anticipated both by the press and the people. The event occurred with sublime natural incidents. The
published account refers to them. Exchange of worlds more
poetical was never made. They thought him dying when he
slept and sleeping when he died. America will share with
England and both with all other lands a sense of profound
loss.”

ON OCT. 6, 1941, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “The Yankees
won the World Series at Ebbets Field this afternoon when they
scored their third straight victory over the Dodgers and their fourth
in five games played. The score was 3 to 1. The Yankees scored a
run, their third, in the fifth when [Tommy] Henrich blasted a homer.” The Yankees and Dodgers would meet again in 1947, 1949,
1952 1953, 1955 and 1956, with the Dodgers winning their only
championship in Brooklyn in 1955. Since moving to Los Angeles,
they have won titles in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981 and 1988.

ON OCT. 7, 1931, the Eagle reported, “Manager Paul Binstock
of the Fortway Theater reports a rush of youngsters to join the Mickey Mouse Club about to be launched by that theater and co-operating
stores among which membership blanks have been distributed. ‘The
Mickey Mouse Club, suggested by the Mickey Mouse cartoons in
sound, is one with a very definite purpose,’ explains Manager Binstock.
‘For instance, here is the creed of the Mickey Mouse Club: I will be a
square shooter in my home, in school, on the playground, and wherever
I may be. I will be truthful and honorable, and strive, always, to make
myself a better and more useful little citizen. I will respect my elders
and help the aged, the helpless and children smaller than myself. In
short I will be a good American.”

ON OCT. 8, 1888, the Eagle reported from London, “Nothing
that the newspapers can present to their readers receives any attention except the Whitechapel murders. Important political utterances, which ordinarily would provoke general discussion, are unread and continental affairs of vital interest to England are thrust
aside as of no consequence whatever. The police have adopted the
theory that the letter and postal card signed ‘Jack the Ripper,’ sent
to the Central News a week ago Thursday, emanated from the actual murderer. Facsimiles of the letter and card are posted in every
police station and upon every dead wall, accompanied by a paragraph begging any person recognizing the writing to communicate with General Sir Charles Warren, Chief Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police. The Central News received another communication from ‘Jack the Ripper’ yesterday evening announcing his
intention to commit more murder tonight and upon the strength
of that the police have ordered every man on duty and are assisted by hundreds of amateur detectives. The reign of terror which
has prevailed in the Whitechapel district during the past week still
continues, and the arrival of daylight tomorrow morning will be
hailed with joy by thousands of the denizens of that locality.”

ON OCT. 8, 1942, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn went scrap-happy today as the red-hot enthusiasm of the borough’s treasure hunters,
reported in cold statistics hour by hour, passed the scheduled quota in
the first four hours and speeded on, at an ever-increasing tempo which
promised to bring in at least 100,000,000 pounds of vital war materials
before the day was done. An army of almost 10,000 men and women,
rolling through the borough’s 1,400 miles of scrap-laden streets aboard
1,400 trucks, was collecting vital metals at a rate which, before noon, hit
well above 7,000,000 pounds per hour. By noon the Brooklyn total, including 10,742,545 pounds which were harvested before official collection day, reached 37,330,664 … One woman, who would not give her
name, was asked by reporters why she was giving her baby’s bathtub
away. She said, ‘I can bathe my baby in the regular bathtub. The rubber
and metal which make up this bathinette will help save some American
boy’s life and get rid of a Jap or a Nazi.’”

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developing, and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to their race, gender, color,
religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship status,
veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by state or local law. EOE.

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• Did you know the Brooklyn Bridge has gone by several different names? In its early days it was still referred
to as the “Great East River Bridge” or “Great East River
Roofing,
Shingle,
Attics,
All
Renovations,
Roofing,
Flat
Shingle,
Roofing,
Flat first
Shingle,
All Renovations,
Attics, All Renovations,
Roofing, Flat
Flat
Shingle,
Attics,
All
Renovations,
Suspension
Bridge”
until The
Brooklyn
Daily Attics,
Eagle
ay
referred
to
the
project
as
the
“Brooklyn
Bridge”
in
1867
’s W
y
Stoops,
Brickwork,
Waterproofing,
a
J
Masonry,
Stoops,
Brickwork,
Waterproofing,
Masonry,
Stoops,
Masonry,
Brickwork,
Stoops,
Waterproofing,
Brickwork,
Waterproofing,
Masonry,
Stoops,
and
the rest is
history. Brickwork, Waterproofing,
MOVING MOVING
ng MOVING
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• The Brooklyn-based Topps company dumped 500
cases of their 1952 high series baseball cards into the
ocean just off the Jersey shore in the early 60s? (current
value would be well over $1 billion).


• Charles Feltman is said to have invented the hot dog
at Coney Island in 1867. The famous Nathan’s was later
opened by one of his former employees.

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Pet Adoption
Corner
Sean Casey Animal Rescue has
shared these photos of pets up with
adoption with us.
Jill is a seven-year-old Lhasa Apso
mix. Jill need time to warm up to new
people but once she knows you, she
will show you her happy goofy side.

Jill

Maggie is a one-year-old Domestic
Longhair. Maggie is an independent
but friendly girl. She also gets along
well with other cats.
Sean Casey Animal Rescue (718-4365163) is located at 153 East Third St.
Photos courtesy of Sean Casey Animal Rescue

Maggie

Gypsy and Cosmo

Photo courtesy of Angela Lazaro

VERG-North has moved to Gowanus
Our new home is at 196 4th Ave—
which is less than a mile away from our original North location.
(Between Degraw & Sackett St.)

Onyx the cat is exhausted from holiday fun!

Photo by Hbriz B

Onyx the cat is exhausted from holiday
fun! the cat is exhausted
Photo by Hbriz B
Onyx
from holiday fun!

Onyx the cat is exhausted from holiday fun!

Photo by Hbriz B

Photo by Hbriz B

At Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group (VERG) we are
dedicated to providing intimate, top-quality medicine and hold
ourselves to an increasingly high standard. Our new facility is not only
larger and better equipped, but also optimized for improved client &
patient care. In this new home we are certain that VERG will provide
a superior experience for you and your pets—we even have separate
feline and canine waiting areas as well as a rooftop dogrun.
Serving Brooklyn and the greater NYC area since 2005.

epublican state Sen.
Martin Golden and
his Democratic challenger Andrew Gounardes
clashed over several issues
in a heated debate at a Bay
Ridge senior citizens center on Oct. 3, but it was a
question from an audience
member that generated the
biggest controversy of the
morning.
During the question and
answer session, Mallory
McMahon, co-founder of
group Fight Back Bay Ridge,
charged that Golden has
been ducking her when she
has repeatedly requested
to meet with him.
Golden did not deny
McMahon’s assertion, but
said she is a Democratic
Party loyalist who is not
interested in engaging in
a reasonable discussion
of the issues with him
and would rather engage
in attacks on him. He also
said the Fight Back Bay
Ridge is not a non-partisan
group and is registered as a
political organization.
“Mallory, I’m too busy
for you,” Golden told McMahon, implying that he
is busy working on behalf
of his constituents to get
into an argument with a
partisan.
Gounardes, who appeared shocked by the
exchange, said that if he
is elected, he would be
willing to meet with all
constituents, no matter
what their political party
aﬃliation might be.
“I’m not afraid of people
who disagree with me,” he
said.
The audience also got
into the dispute. When
McMahon, who has stated
in the past that she is not a
Democrat, said she wanted
to meet with Golden to talk
about education funding,
a few audience members
didn’t believe her and
shouted at her to sit down.
The verbal fireworks
typified the tense atmosphere of the debate, which
was sponsored by the Bay
Ridge Inter-Agency Council on Aging and took place
at the Fort Hamilton Senior
Citizens Center at 9941 Fort
Hamilton Parkway.

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Arthur de Gaeta

Andrew Gounardes.
At one point, Golden
noted that Gounardes
had been endorsed the
day before by Democratic
Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The
Cuomo administration has
been mired in corruption
scandals, Golden said.
Gounardes shot back
that Golden was under
investigation for expenditures. Golden angrily denied it. Golden then pointed
to Gounardes and asked the
audience, “This is what you
want in Albany?”
Golden, a retired police
officer, was first elected
to the state Senate in 2002
and represents the 22nd
Senate District, a district
that includes parts of Bay
Ridge, Dyker Heights,
Bensonhurst, Gravesend,
Manhattan Beach, Marine
Park and Gerritsen Beach.
Gounardes, a lawyer
who serves as chief counsel
to Borough President Eric
Adams, ran against Golden
in 2012 and lost.
Throughout the debate,
Golden sought to portray
himself as a hands-on, community-minded, reliable
elected official who gets
things done.
“You all know me. You
know what I’ve done for
this community,” he said.
Among
his

State Sen. Marty Golden.
accomplishments, he said,
are securing funding for
senior citizen centers,
schools and transportation.
Locally, Golden said he has
obtained $250,000 for the
Bay Ridge Center and $1.4
million for elder abuse prevention programs, and has
fought for funding for drug
prescription programs and
the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE).
On transportation, he
said the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority
(MTA) is currently building an elevator at the 86th
Street R train station and
that there are plans to build
elevators at the 95th Street
and 77th Street stations, all
at his urging
Gounardes, by contrast,
sought to portray himself
as a breath of fresh air who
could bring much-needed
change to Albany. “I know
that the status quo is leaving us behind. We need
fresh ideas up in Albany.
You’re not going to solve
these problems if you keep
sending the same people to
Albany year after year,” he
told the audience.
Gounardes’s ideas include appointing a rider
to represent subway passengers on the MTA board,
establishing a GI Bill for

senior citizens who might
want to go back to college or
train for a new profession,
and awarding tax credits to
people who serve as caregivers to family members.
Golden and Gounardes
also clashed over charter
schools when they took
turns answering a question
about education. Charter
schools are publicly funded but are privately run.
There has been talk of
a charter school opening
at the site of the former
Angel Guardian Home
at 12th Avenue and 63rd
Street in Dyker Heights.
The Angel Guardian Home,
which opened in 1899 as an
orphanage, was recently
sold to a new owner.
“We don’t need more
charter schools in this
neighborhood,” Gounardes
said.
Golden contended that
charter schools could help
alleviate overcrowding
in surrounding public
schools. “We have the
most overcrowded school
district in the city of New
York,” he said. “Charter
schools are public schools.”
The two candidates also
disagreed on the Child
Victims Act, a bill that was
drafted in the wake of the
Catholic Church sex abuse

scandal. The bill would
ease the statute of limitations for adults seeking
to bring criminal charges
against Catholic priests
and other people who sexually abused them when they
were children. Gounardes
favors it. Golden expressed
concerns about it.
“Let’s talk about justice,”
said Gounardes, who added that many victims were
abused as children and
have never been able to
discuss it until now. “We
need to erase the statute of
limitations.”
Golden said that would
create problems. “If you
get rid of the statute of limitations for this crime, you
would have to eliminate it
for all crimes,” he said.
Golden supports another bill to create a Child
Victims Fund that would
set up a fund for victims
to seek financial settlements stemming from past
abuses.
Other debates that
took place at the forum
Wednesday morning did
not generate the drama
of the Golden-Gounardes
ﬁght, largely because of the
absence of key candidates.
U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan,
a Republican representing
Southwest Brooklyn and

Staten Island, did not attend the forum, moderator
Peter Killen saying that
Donovan was in Washington. That left the stage to
his Democratic opponent,
Max Rose, and Green Party
candidate Henry Bardel.
Another scheduled debate fell through when Republican Steve Saperstein
sent his regrets and did not
come to debate Democrat
Mathylde Frontus. The two
are running for the state
Assembly seat in the 46th
Assembly District.
But Saperstein had a
good excuse, according to
Liam McCabe, a friend who
read a statement from him
announcing that he and
his wife had a baby girl the
day before. Frontus was
among those who applauded congratulations to the
Sapersteins. She had the
stage to herself and talked
to the audience about her
proposals.
Assemblymember Nicole
Malliotakis, a Republican
representing Bay Ridge
and Staten Island, did show
up, as did her Democratic
opponent, Adam Baumel,
who works as an Uber driver for wheelchair-bound
riders. Their debate was a
quiet event that generated
no ﬁreworks.

grieving Bay Ridge
family is getting
a helping hand
thanks to the neighborhood.
Following the death of
61-year-old Bay Ridge resident Ronald Shammas, who
was killed in a car crash
Saturday, Sept. 22, friends,
neighbors and strangers
alike are stepping in to help
his family.
Shammas, died early
Saturday morning after
suﬀering a medical episode
behind the wheel and losing
control of his vehicle while
driving eastbound on 92nd
Street. He collided with
another car while making
a right turn onto Fifth
Avenue.
A GoFundMe page has
been created on his family’s
behalf with all donations going to paying for Shammas’
funeral services.
In just four days, 72 people have helped raise $6,325
of the intended $10,000 goal.
The page features a
YouTube video displaying
several photos of Shammas
with his children.
“He was driving from another day of work when the
unexpected happened,” the
video reads. “Ron had a major heart attack behind the
wheel which led to a fatal car
accident. He was rushed to
the hospital and doctors did
everything they could. But
Ron didn’t make it.”
The video also explains
the impact the accident has

had on Shammas’ family.
“His kids had to ﬁnd out
unexpectedly that their
beloved father had passed
away,” it read on. “Ron was
a good man with a huge
heart. His three kids meant
everything to him.”
“On behalf of the Kettle,
Tuscany, and Ho Brah we
oﬀer our deepest condolences,” wrote one donator, calling Shammas “a sweetheart
of a man.” “We all loved Ron
very much and will miss
him dearly.”
Sources say Shammas
was a delivery driver for a
number of local eateries.
Another called him “the
best Santa ever.”
“His kindness went far
above his annual red suit,”
the commenter wrote.
“May his beloved children
keep his spirit close them
always. . .Every conversation with your dad started
[and] ended with you! God
bless you all in this time of
great sorrow.”
The page’s video also
makes a statement.
“Ron didn’t get the chance
to say goodbye or I love you
one last time,” it reads. “Let
this story be a reminder to
us all that life is precious,
and while alive and able, let
us love with all our heart.
“Although we can’t bring
Ron back, we can keep him
in our hearts and prayers
and we can do our best to
support his family,” the
video concludes.
To make a donation,
visit www.gofundme.com/
r on- sh a m m a s-m e m or ial-fund.

ebrooklyn media/Photo by Jaime DeJesus

A memorial has been made at the corner of 92nd Street and Fifth Avenue where Ronald
Shammas (inset) was killed.

Bay Ridge Friends Help Raise
Awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis
BY JOHN ALEXANDER
JALEXANDER@BROOKLYNEAGLE.
COM

E

sme Ellison and
Kristine Kelleher
are like Batman and
Robin in the ﬁght against
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
(IBD). For the long-time
friends, this battle is personal as they join forces to
help raise awareness of the
debilitating diseases.
Kelleher has suffered
from ulcerative colitis, a
chronic inflammatory
bowel disease that aﬀects
the lining of the digestive
tract, since she was in
college and has since undergone a total colectomy.
Ellison has suﬀered from
Crohn’s disease since ﬁrst
being diagnosed in 2009.
“The mission of the

Photos via GoFundMe

Photo courtesy of Esme Ellison

Friends Kristine Kelleher and Esme Ellison
are determined to help find a cure for Crohn’s
disease and colitis.
Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation is to cure IBD,” Ellison
told this paper. “One out of
every 200 infants, children
and adults in America suffers from Inflammatory

Bowel Disease. There is
no cure and the incidence
of Crohn’s and colitis is
increasing worldwide.”
On Saturday, October 6,
Ellison and Kelleher are

hosting the Bingo Power 2
Cure fundraiser for IBD at
the Harp Bar at 7710 Third
Avenue in Bay Ridge. It is
in preparation for Spin4
Crohn’s & Colitis Cures, the
oﬃcial Crohn’s and Colitis
Foundation indoor cycling
event on Sunday, Oct. 21.
Ellison and Kelleher
have committed to raising
at least $1,000 at the Harp
Bar where guests can purchase $20 bingo cards, with
each card valid for all 10
games, and win a variety of
prizes. Cash or checks are
accepted with all checks
made out to Crohn’s and
Colitis Foundation.
“The silver lining of this
disease is that it helped
form a lifelong friendship
of two people dedicated to
help ﬁnding a cure,” Ellison
added.

Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018 • BROOKLYN SPECTATOR • 15

Two Women Struck by Dump Truck in Sunset Park
BY JAIME DEJESUS

standing right at the corner
and he just ran them over,”
said Josue Ayala, who lives
near where the accident
occurred.
He added, “I saw a lady on
the ﬂoor pretty badly hit on
one of her legs. It looks like

JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.
COM

T

wo women, one 65,
the other 47, were hit
by a dump truck in
Sunset Park on Thursday,
Sept. 20, leaving one in critical condition.
According to authorities,
at around 11:54 a.m. that
morning, the commercial
dump truck was traveling
westbound on 43rd Street
when the driver, a 24-yearold man, attempted to make
a right turn onto Third
Avenue and struck the two
women.
Both were taken to NYU
Langone Hospital-Brooklyn where the 65-year-old

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Loudlabs News NYC

The scene of the accident.
woman was listed in stable
but critical condition. The
47-year-old woman sustained only minor injuries.
“A big truck was coming

down from Fourth Avenue
on 43rd and made a right
turn on Third Avenue. It
looked like he didn’t see
the two ladies that were

the two back tires of the
truck just ran over one of
them. It was a terrible thing
to see.”
Locals say that the area
has had its share of accidents.
“Two or three days ago
there was a lady who was hit
also at the same spot,” Ayala
added.
“I wish everyone would
be careful,” said another
witness. “I see about three
people getting run over
every two to three weeks.
Everyone has to be more
cautious.”
The operator of the truck
remained on the scene. The
investigation is ongoing.
Additional reporting contributed by Loudlabs News
NYC

Notice of formation of limited liability company (LLC). Name:
THE CONSTELLATION COLLECTIVE LLC. Articles of Organization ¿led with Secretary
of State of New York (SSNY)
on 8/7/2018. NY of¿ce location:
Kings County. SSNY has been
designated as agent of the LLC
upon whom process against it
may be served. The post of¿ce
address to which the SSNY
shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served
upon him/her is The Constellation Collective LLC, 47 Bergen
Street, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, NY,
11201. Purpose/character of
LLC: Any Lawful Purpose.
#163249

Notice of formation of limited liability company (LLC). Name:
SHILOH FAMILY AND GROUP
DAY CARE LLC. Articles of Organization ¿led with Secretary
of State of New York (SSNY)
on 7/9/2018. NY of¿ce location:
Kings County. SSNY has been
designated as agent of the LLC
upon whom process against
it may be served. The post of¿ce address to which the SSNY
shall mail a copy of any process
against the LLC served upon
him/her is Itohan Holmes, 1181
East 92 Street Apt B Brooklyn,
NY, 11236. Purpose/character
of LLC: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of formation of limited liability company (LLC). Name:
ARKILO PEST MANAGEMENT LLC. Articles of Organization ¿led with Secretary of
State of New York (SSNY) on
06/15/2018. NY of¿ce location:
Kings County. SSNY has been
designated as agent of the LLC
upon whom process against it
may be served. The post of¿ce
address to which the SSNY
shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served
upon him/her is Spiegel & Utrera P.A., P.C., 1 Maiden Lane,
5th Floor New York, NY, 10038.
Purpose/character of LLC: Any
Lawful Purpose.

SHILOH FAMILY
AND GROUP DAY
CARE LLC

#163112

MICK
ENTERTAINMENT LLC

Notice of Quali¿cation of MICK
ENTERTAINMENT LLC Appl.
for Auth. ¿led with Secy. of State
of NY (SSNY) on 09/07/18. Of¿ce location: Kings County. LLC
formed in Delaware (DE) on
11/13/17. SSNY designated as
agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.
SSNY shall mail process to
c/o Corporation Service Co.
(CSC), 80 State St., Albany,
NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of
LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls
Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.
Cert. of Form. ¿led with Secy.
of State, Div. of Corps., John
G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.
Purpose: Any lawful activity.
#163608

347 GREENE
DEBT LLC

NOTICE OF FORMATION of
347 Greene Debt LLC. Art.
of Org. ¿led with the Secy of
State of NY (SSNY) on 9/7/18.
Off. Loc.: Kings County. SSNY
has been desig. as agent upon
whom process against it may
be served. The address to
which the SSNY shall mail a
copy to is: The LLC, 225 Broadway, 32nd Fl., New York, NY
10007. Purpose: Any lawful act
#163961

ARKILO PEST
MANAGEMENT LLC

#163088

11021

312 GROUP LLC

312 GROUP LLC. Arts. of
Org. ¿led with the SSNY on
01/17/17. Of¿ce: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent
of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.
SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Oren
Hakim 14 Bond Street, Great
Neck, NY 11021. Purpose: Any
lawful purpose.
#163243

14221

ZABKA NEW
YORK LLC

Notice of formation of limited liability company (LLC). Name:
ZABKA NEW YORK LLC. Articles of Organization ¿led with
Secretary of State of New York
(SSNY) on 08/28/2018. NY of¿ce location: Kings County.
SSNY has been designated as
agent of the LLC upon whom
process against it may be
served. The post of¿ce address
to which the SSNY shall mail a
copy of any process against
the LLC served upon him/her
is Legalinc Corporate Services
Inc. 1967 Wehrle Drive Suite 1
#086 Buffalo, NY, 14221. Purpose/character of LLC: Any
Lawful Purpose.
#163894

File No. 2017-1758/A PA.
No. 140279 SURROGATE’S
COURT, KINGS COUNTY
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE
OF NEW YORK, By the Grace
of God Free and Independent
TO: Jefferson Springer, Attorney General of the State of
New York, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, New York City Human
Resources Administration. The
Spouse if any, and any and all
unknown distributees and creditors of MARGARET POND, deceased, whose whereabouts
are unknown and if any of the
aforesaid persons be dead, to
their heirs at law, next of kin
and distributees whose names
and places of residence are unknown and if the persons died
subsequent to the decedent
herein, to their executors, administrators, legatees, devisees, assignees and successors in interest whose names
and places of residence are
unknown and to all other heirs
at law, next of kin and distributees of MARGARET POND, the
decedent herein, whose names
and, places of residence are unknown and cannot after due diligence be ascertained, A petition, and an account having
been duly ¿led by the Public
Administrator of Kings County,
who has of¿ces at 360 Adams
Street, Room 144A, Brooklyn,
New York 11201, United States.
YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO
SHOW CAUSE before the Surrogate’s Court, Kings County, at
2 Johnson Street, Room 319,
Brooklyn, New York, on October 23, 2018, at 9:30 o’clock
in the fore noon of that day,
why: (a) The account of proceedings of the Public Administrator of Kings County as Administrator of the estate of
MARGARET POND, a Summary of which has been served
herewith, should not be judicially settled; (b) The Public Administrator of Kings County should
not be paid his commissions
pursuant to SCPA Sec. 2307
in the amount of $4,326.96, as
set forth in Schedules C-1 and
I of the Account; (c) The Public Administrator of Kings County should not be paid his administrative expenses pursuant to

SCPA 91106(3) in the amount of
$865.39, as set forth in Schedule: C-1 and J of the Account;
(d) The Court should not ¿x,
determine and approve the legal fees of Cullen and Dykman LLP, counsel to Petitioner,
in the amount of $5,192.36 as
set forth in Schedules C-1 and
J of the Account; (e) The Court
should not ¿x, determine and
approve the disbursements of
Cullen and Dykman LLP in the
amount of $286.00 as set forth
in Schedules C-1 and J of the
Account; (f) The claim of New
York City Human Resources
Administration, in the amount
of $41,778.29 should not be allowed, to the extent of the net
estate after the payment of administration expenses and any
creditor claims which have priority of payment; (g) The claims
of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
and Jefferson Springer, if any,
should not be ¿xed and determined (h) The Petitioner should
not be permitted to distribute so
much of the net estate to the
decedent’s distributees, as now
known or hereafter determined,
as their interests :may appear,
and to deposit any amount not
so distributed with the Commissioner of Finance of the City of
New York to be held for the bene¿t of decedent’s unknown distributees or for the bene¿t of
any distributees of the decedent who are under disability for
whom no guardian of the property has been appointed; (i) The
Petitioner, upon fully complying
with the Decree to be made in
this proceeding, should not be
released and discharged of and
from any and all liability, responsibility and accountability with
respect to the Petitioner’s acts
and proceedings as Administrator as set forth and embraced
in said account and the Court
grant such other and further relief as it deems just and proper; Dated, attested and sealed
August 30, 2018, Hon. Margarita Lopez Torres, Surrogate, Doreen C. Quinn, Chief Clerk. Cullen and Dykman LLP, 44 Wall
Street, New York, NY 100052407 Joseph J. Borges, Esq.
(212) 701-4175 NOTE: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not re-

quired to appear. If you fail to
appear it will be assumed that
you do not object to the relief
requested. You have a right to
have an attorney appear for
you, and you or your attorney
may request a copy of the full
account from the petitioner or
petitioner’s attorney.
#163818

NOTICE OF SALE
SUPREME COURT OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF KINGS U.S.
BANK N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR
THE REGISTERED HOLDERS
OF MASTR ASSET BACKED
SECURITIES TRUST 2006AM3, MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES,
SERIES 2006-AM3, V. CORDELL MATTHEWS; ET. AL. NOTICE OF SALE NOTICE IS
HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a
Final Judgment of Foreclosure
dated July 31, 2014, and entered in the Of¿ce of the Clerk
of the County of Kings, wherein U.S. BANK N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR THE REGISTERED
HOLDERS OF MASR ASSET
BACKED SECURITIES TRUST
2006-AM3, MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES,
SERIES 2006-AM3 is the
Plaintiff and CORDELL MATTHEWS; ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at
the KINGS COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 360 ADAMS STREET,
ROOM 224, BROOKLYN, NY
11201, on November 1, 2018
at 2:30PM, premises known as
1706 DEAN STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11213: Block 1348,
Lot 30: ALL THAT PARCEL
OF LAND IN BOROUGH OF
BROOKLYN, KINGS COUNTY,
STATE OF NEW YORK, Premises will be sold subject to provisions of ¿led Judgment Index
# 012915/2010. Lyle F. Silversmith, Esq. - Referee. RAS
Boriskin, LLC 900 Merchants
Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff.
#163400

earing up for Columbus Day.
The Federation of
Italian Americans (FIAO)
kicked oﬀ the lead-up to
its annual parade with its
yearly fundraising brunch.
The event, held at Sirico’s,
8023 13th Ave., on Sunday,
September 30 honored this
year’s grand marshals: New
York State Supreme Court
Justice Joseph Bruno, 62nd
Precinct Communit y
Aﬀairs Detective Stephen
Agosta, Principal of P.S. 748
for Global Scholars Ursula
Annio and past president of
Ben-Bay Kiwanis and FIAO
and Maimonides Medical
Center Trustee Frank
Naccarato.
President of FIAO Carlo
Scissura discussed the
signiﬁcance of the day.
“It’s an opportunity to do
two things,” he explained.
“One is of course to highlight the grand marshals
of the parade. There are
four great grand marshals
this year so we were very
excited to honor them,
highlight them and give
them the awards. It also
helps raise money for the
parade which is an expensive proposition. We had
one of our most successful
brunches ever, so we’re
really happy about it.”
The honorees were
selected based on exceptional community service,
Scissura said.
The importance of the
Brooklyn Columbus Day
Parade continues to be

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Corazon Aguirre

Detective Stephen Agosta, family members and friends.

Frank Naccarato Jr., Tenor Luciano Lamonarca, Frank Naccarato,
Anthony Naccarato and his son Frankie.
strong.
“I think for FIAO, it just
continues our community
involvement and now that
we have Il Centro, we’ll end

Jack Spatola, Ursula Annio and Carlo
Scissura.

the parade there and open
it for people to see,” he
said. “It adds a lot of value
and for the people of the
community, it is a day to

Jack Spatola, Frank Naccarato and Carlo
Scissura.

celebrate Italian culture.
It brings people out, and
helps neighborhood businesses. It’s just a fun day.”
The pre-parade mass will

Jack Spatola, Detective Stephen Agosta and
Carlo Scissura.

be celebrated on Saturday,
Oct. 6 at St. Athanasius
Church, 2154 61st St., at
10:15 a.m. The parade will
follow, kicking oﬀ at 1 p.m.

at the corner of 61st Street.
It will end in front of Il
Centro, 8711 18th Ave.
For more information,
visit www.ﬁaobrooklyn.org.

Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ HOME REPORTER â&#x20AC;˘ 17

AgeWell New York FIDA Plan Update
AgeWell New York is a managed care plan that offers Medicare Advantage Prescription
Drug Plans, and Managed Long Term Care Plans. The plan serves communities in the New
York Metropolitan area, including Westchester, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn,
Nassau, and Suffolk counties.
Beginning January 1, 2019, AgeWell New York will no longer offer the Fully Integrated
Duals Advantage (FIDA) Program. Members currently enrolled in the AgeWell New York
FIDA Plan will be receiving advance written notice of this change, and will be advised of
the requirement to pick a new plan. In the event that an alternate choice is not made, the
person will be enrolled into a new FIDA plan by New York Department of Health, effective
January 1, 2019.
To get more information about FIDA Plan in your county, call New York Medicaid Choice at
1-855-600-3432.
For more information about AgeWell New York, please call 866-586-8044, or visit
www.agewellnewyork.com.
H6308_PressRelease16711 Approved 09272018

18• HOME REPORTER/SPECTATOR • Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018

OPINION
GENERALLY
SPEAKING

To reach Ted General
via the Internet,
his e-mail address is:
General@Journalist.com.

BY THEODORE GENERAL

Bay Ridge Credit Union Merges
with Long Island Credit Union

A

nother Bay Ridge ﬁnancial institution will no
longer carry the moniker
“Bay Ridge” as part of its corporate name.
First it was the Bay Ridge Savings Bank that was gobbled up by
the Anchor Savings Bank. Then,
years later, the old Bay Ridge Savings and Loan Association Bank
disappeared. Now, as of October 1,
with the Bay Ridge Federal Credit
Union merger with the Hauppauge, Long Island-based Island
Federal Credit Union, the name
Bay Ridge fades away again!
The deal was conﬁrmed by Bay
Ridgeite Anthony Grigos, the former president and CEO of the Bay
Ridge Federal Credit Union.
With the new merger, Island
Credit Union reportedly will have
combined assets of $1.6 billion and
close to 50,000 members. Island
has announced that the former
headquarters of the BRFCU at
1750 86th Street will become the
10th branch of the Island network.
We were advised that members
and depositors will see no staﬀ
changes at the old BRFCU site. In
fact, they will now also be able to
use and carry out transactions at
Island’s other nine branches.
Membership in the Brooklyn Consumer Federation will

ebrooklyn media/fi le photo

Marchers in the 2017 Brooklyn Columbus Day Parade.
continue to be one of the ways
to join the Island Federal Credit
Union. The federation at its recent board meeting reappointed
retired NYPD Detective Peter
Killen as executive director.
Killen, a past president of the Bay
Ridge Community Council, is also
the current president of the Bay
Ridge chapter of the AARP.
***
On Saturday, October 6, the
Federation of Italian American
Organizations of Brooklyn will
commemorate the 526th anniversary of the discovery of the New
World by Italian explorer and
seafarer Christopher Columbus,
as well as celebrate Italian culture

and heritage.
The occasion will be heralded
by the 37th annual Brooklyn
Columbus Day Parade along 18th
Avenue, aka “Cristoforo Colombo
Boulevard,” from 61st Street to
Benson Avenue, kicking oﬀ at 1
p.m. (Note: I must have missed my
morning coﬀee; we had the wrong
date in last week’s column.)
Among the featured bands
will be the championship Fort
Hamilton High School Marching
Regiment.
FIAO President Carlo Scissura
will be providing the commentary
on the reviewing stand in front of
the new Il Centro community center building. New York City’s 74th

State Sens. Marty Golden and Diane Savino and
Assemblymember Bill Colton with Msgrs. David Cassato
and Jamie Gigantiello in the 2017 Columbus Parade.
Columbus Day Parade takes place
along Fifth Avenue on Monday,
October 8.
***
The Fort Hamilton Army
Garrison’s Deputy Commander
Don Bradshaw recently took
on a new post with the Army’s
Paciﬁc Installation Management
Command in Hawaii. Aloha, Don!
The Pentagon recently assigned
Perry Yoshimiya as the interim
deputy commander for Fort
Hamilton.
***
I’ve got to mention my frustration with Verizon. My home
landline phone has been out for

most of the week. Verizon customer service claims it might take
at least a week for one of its ﬁeld
technicians to come out to correct
the problem.
First, customer service asked
me whether I had FIOS service.
When I said no, I was told Verizon
was backlogged as a result of the
stormy weather over the tri-state
area. It is also aﬀecting my Internet service. I tried pleading and
escalating, all to no avail.
I believe Verizon has been laying oﬀ too many of its hard-wire
technicians and when it comes to
major disruptions, it is unable to
respond quickly.

OP-ED

P

The Property Tax Disparity in Brooklyn Must End

roperty taxes are
easily one of the
top issues aﬀecting
our community and other
pockets of New York City,
and a leading reason why
our city has become so
unaﬀordable.
As the system currently
exists, low and middle-income New Yorkers are
subsidizing the property
taxes of those living in the
highest valued properties
in our city’s most aﬄuent
neighborhoods.
It sends the wrong message when the mayor of our
city lives in a home valued
at $1.7 million and only
pays $3,600 in property
tax while others are paying
twice that for homes valued
at half as much.
To use a similarly priced
home in Bay Ridge as
an example: One of my

constituents has a home
valued at $1.5 million and
is paying $11,000 (nearly
triple) in property taxes.
Another resident in my
district has a home valued
at $369,000 and pays $4,200,
still more than our mayor.
This is a real ‘Tale of Two
Cities’ and one that must be
rectiﬁed so it is fair, equitable and aﬀordable for all.
Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights,
Canarsie, Brownsville,
Flatbush, Mill Basin, Gerritsen Beach, Brighton
Beach, Manhattan Beach,
Gravesend, Marine Park,
Midwood, Sheepshead Bay,
Bergen Beach, Bath Beach
and Bensonhurst are just
a few of the neighborhoods
in Kings County that suﬀer
by paying double or triple
what that their neighbors
in Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights

and Manhattan with much
If the highest eﬀective
higher property values are tax rate paid in the city is
paying.
1.05 percent and the lowRecently, I anest is 0.32 percent,
nounced new
a u
uniform rate
w
leg islation
for
f all should
that I plan to
be met in the
introduce
middle.
in the state
Second, the
Assembly to
city should
consider
proﬁx the many
c
viding
a
properinequities of
vid
ty
our current
t tax cap for
seniors who
property tax BY ASSEMBLYMEMBER
are
65 and
system.
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS
older,
have
My bill
will ensure
ﬁxed incomes
that all Class 1 properties under $75,000 and have
are assessed at full mar- lived in their residence for
ket value by removing at least 20 years.
the amount by which
This is primarily a proproperty assessments can tection for senior citizens
increase, so that the trend- living in the more expeniest neighborhoods are not sive neighborhoods in the
safeguarded from paying city who have seen their
the same property tax rate property values increase
greatly during the 20+
as the rest of the city.

years.
In this case, property taxes would be capped based
on a designated percentage
of the individual’s income
to prevent senior citizens
from being forced to sell
due to inability to pay their
annual property tax bill.
Finally, New York City
should be subjected to
a two percent cap on its
property tax levy, which is
the amount of money city
government seeks from
property taxpayers.
Currently, New York City
is one of the few municipalities in the State of New York
that does not have a cap on
the property tax levy. As
a result, we have seen the
mayor and City Council
increase the property tax
levy by a whopping 44 percent to over $27 billion since
2013, placing an incredible

burden on New York City
citizens.
In addition to homeowners struggling to keep up
with this pace, we all know
that as property taxes go
up, landlords pass that
cost on to renters. Rapidly
increasing property taxes
have made our city unaffordable and are driving
our low and middle-income
earners to other cities.
Mayor de Blasio’s property tax commission is
coming to Brooklyn on
October 15. Let’s make sure
we get out there and tell
the commission that our
community should not be
subsidizing the property
taxes of the city’s most afﬂuent and expensive ones.
Assemblymember Nicole
Malliotakis represents the
64th A.D. in Bay Ridge and
Staten Island.

Traditions Carry Bay Ridge
Into Colorful, Festive Season
Ragamuffin Parade, 3rd Ave. Festival,
Pioneers Reception Among Highlights
Bay Ridge has remained Bay Ridge
because of sustaining neighborhood traditions
that welcome and charm newcomers and visitors while reminding the rest of us what a
special place this is.
For instance, we are now contemplating
our fall festival season, which will include the
Ragamuffin Parade, the Third Avenue
Festival, the 25th Annual Pioneer Reception
and the extraordinary Haunted Halloween
Walk, organized by Chip Cafiero and state
Sen. Marty Golden, which draws thousands
of children and parents each year.
All of these defining events don’t just happen, nor are they sponsored and paid for by
the city. Just about all of them are supported
by volunteers who collect funds in the form of
tickets, journal ads and other contributions.
This past Sunday, the Ragamuffin Parade
Committee — serving children here by the tens
of thousands since 1967 — held its annual
fundraiser at the Bay Ridge Manor honoring
Grand Marshal Leo Lykourezos and “Men of
the Year” Mike Esposito and Ted Nugent.
The committee is led by President Arlene
Keating, Vice President Laurie Windsor,
Secretary Rose Gangi and Treasurer Ilene
Sacco. Their top-notch team of volunteers
includes Colleen Golden, Rose Gangi, Liz
Amato, David Annarummo, Jeanine Condon,
Ted General, Allison Greaker, Sonia AbiHabib, Michele Pollifront-Hass, Pat and Peter
Killen, Kevin Peter Carroll, attorney Joann
Monaco, Linda O’Neill, Jen Reinhard and
David and Sandy Sacco. They held a huge and
profitable (we hope) round of drawings and raffles at the luncheon.
Receiving special attention that afternoon
was the very active Merchants of Third Avenue
Business-Civic Association led by President
Bob Howe, who has been selected as the emcee
for the colorful Ragamuffin Parade set for Oct.
13 along Third Avenue. (All three of this year’s
Ragamuffin honorees happen to be Third

Avenue merchants.)
The following day will be the 44th Annual
Third Avenue Festival — the safest and most
successful in our fair city, thanks in large part
to “Festival Guy” Cafiero, one of the handful
of leaders who guarantees that, through volunteerism and unity, Bay Ridge remains great.
Third Avenue has had a special relationship
with the Ragamuffin Parade thanks in part to a
move by Third Avenue leaders like Al Nahas,
Jim Thompson and Harry English in the
1970s to sort of adopt the parade, which had celebrated its first several years on Fourth Avenue.

Third Ave. Pioneer Project Spotlights
Leaders on Third and Beyond
By the time we’ve recovered from the very
special Ragamuffin/Festival weekend, we’ll
be ready for the 25th Annual Merchants of
Third Avenue Pioneer Reception, set for Oct.
22 at the Bay Ridge Manor.
As Pioneer Committee Co-Chair Lori
Pedone explains, “We started selecting pioneers
from the ranks of Third Avenue businesspeople,
but the Pioneers concept soon proved so popular that a new Civic Award category was created, giving us a wider charter to bring in honorees such as then-Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce (BCC) President Carlo Scissura,
New York City Business Partnership leader
Kathy Wylde and, this year, Rick Russo, who
is the acting president of the BCC.”
“We still focus like a laser on the individual
merchants on the avenue,” Howe said, “because
as we know small businesses produce most of
the jobs here and throughout the country.”
Among those selected in this category this
year is Anthony Perricone, proprietor of
Anthony’s Butcher Shop at 74th Street on
Third Avenue.
“We understand the various chain and box
stores will come and go,” Howe said, “But we —
and our community — rely on the traditional,
reliable shops like the one run by Anthony and his

family, which also includes his wife Rosemary
and daughters Christina and Michelle.”
Other special awards will be given out that
night, including a Lifetime Achievement
Award to Jane Kelly, Bay Ridge’s revered
volunteer icon. Dennis Monier of Tops
Restaurant & Bar Supply will receive the
Half-Century Award for his 50 years in business. Below is the full slate of honorees:

tate Sen. Golden admits, “It is no secret
that the finances of
the MTA are in complete
disarray. They are accountable to no one and their debt
continues to rise, while the
service they provide fails its
commuters.”
He knows that our
transportation system has
failed commuters in the
22nd District as well as all
of Brooklyn and has done
nothing in the past 16 years
to fix the problem. Even
though Golden is the vice
chair of the majority conference in the state Senate,
he has only been able to
stymie proposals to ﬁx what
is most deﬁnitely a broken
transportation system.
StreetsPAC, an advocacy group for increased
street safety and improved
transportation for commuters, endorsed Andrew
Gounardes, Democrat, to

A

unseat Sen. Golden in the
22nd District which covers
Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights,
Bensonhurst, Marine Park,
Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend,
Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay and Midwood this
November.
Transportation advocates
recognize that Andrew
Gounardes is the candidate
to restore speed cameras
and to implement street
safet y improvements.
StreetsPAC criticized
Golden as a legislator who
“has distinguished himself
primarily as an obstacle”
to progress in street safety
and better transportation
for commuters.
Gounardes, on the other
hand, has volunteered on
the Community Board 10
subcommittee dedicated
to street safety, and has
worked with BRAKES
(Bay Ridge Advocates for
Keeping Everyone Safe) on

pedestrian safety issues.
Golden, as I have previously noted, collected 14
speed camera summonses
for his speeding in safety
zones and failed to extend
the lifesaving speed camera
program. Golden has been in
Albany for 16 years and has
done everything possible
to maintain his seat while
helping Republicans maintain a stranglehold on power
there.
The balance of power in
Albany will be decided this
November because the Republicans control the state
Senate, 32 seats to 31, with
the help of a Democratic
turncoat, Sen. Simcha Felder,
who votes with the GOP.
Defeating Golden in November could give Democrats control of the chamber
and a chance to make some
real changes in New York
City and throughout the
state. It has never been more

BY BRIAN KIERAN

The balance of power in
Albany will be decided
this November because
the Republicans control
the state Senate, 32
seats to 31, with the
help of a Democratic
turncoat, Sen. Simcha
Felder, who votes with
the GOP.
important for voters to come
out and vote in an election.
Gounardes supports a
restoration of the speed
camera program and the
creation of a fair congestion
price system to lessen vehicular traﬃc as well as to fund
mass transit.
Gounardes had stated he
will “support congestion

Seeing Red

s much as local
Democrats would
like you to believe
their rhetoric that a blue
wave is descending onto
Southern Brooklyn, the race
to watch is the one between
Republican/Conservative/
I n d e p e n d e n c e / R e f or m
Party candidate Steve
Saperstein and Democratic
primary winner Mathylde
Frontus with the loser of
the Democratic Assembly
primary Ethan Lustig-Elgrably on the Working Families
Party line.
In this seat, the Democrats might very well see
RED.
Saperstein brings to
the race an impressive
background as a public
school teacher of the deaf
who happens to hold a law
degree. Last year, he ran
for City Council, winning
the portions of the Council
district that overlap with
this Assembly district
against a popular city
councilmember.
This year, Steve is ringing

doorbells, doing mail,
attending events everywhere, issuing statements
and developing solutions
to a whole slew of issues
aﬀecting this district.
Steve has received
several important union
endorsements. He is
successfully raising the
type of money that will
continue to give him the
resources necessary to win
this campaign. He has been
endorsed by Congressmember Dan Donovan, state
Sen. Marty Golden (whom
I serve as chief of staﬀ ) and
Assemblymember Nicole
Malliotakis who have made
many appearances with
him.
Frontus on September
13 (it was not oﬃcial for almost two more weeks) won
a tough primary against
two Democratic machines
including the Bay Ridge
Democrats who were part
of a deal earlier in the summer to drop their candidate
to assist Ethan.
From Primary Day to

this week, she essentially
put her general election
campaign on hold as she
and her team dealt with
the recount. After that,
she and her staﬀ took some
time oﬀ to recharge. Steve
used this time to campaign,
gain supporters and lock in
votes for November.

The bottom line is that
you have the right not to
vote, but no good reason
not to vote.
The district essentially
comprises Bay Ridge from
81st Street to the Verrazano Bridge, most of Dyker
Heights, some of Bath
Beach, all of Coney Island
and Seagate, plus Trump
Village and Brighton Beach.
There will be a number
of debates between now
and election Day including
one being held by the Dyker
Heights Civic Association
on Tuesday, October 9 at 8
p.m. at St. Philip’s Church
Hall, 80th Street and 11th

WE THE PEOPLE
pricing provided that two
important criteria are met.
First, the funds raised from
any congestion pricing plan
must be dedicated solely and
wholly to our mass transit
system, specifically our
subways and buses. Second,
the proposed investments to
mass transit must be deﬁnite,
concrete, and immediate,
and must include upgrades
to the signaling network and
making all subway stations
accessible for all.”
This is something that
Sen. Golden and his upstate
Republican cronies have
failed to do.
Golden, although on an
MTA oversight committee,
has done nothing substantive to hold the MTA
to account for the dismal
service provided to R train

riders and bus passengers
throughout South Brooklyn.
StreetPAC pointed out
that Golden blocked eﬀorts
to improve bus service in
his district last year while
he and upstate Republicans
cut funding for the MTA.
Republicans in the state
Senate including Golden
have made safe streets and
improved transportation
partisan issues, so it is time
to vote for a change.
Electing Gounardes to the
state Senate will provide a
representative with the
right priorities for street
safety and improved transportation. The election of
Andrew Gounardes this
November is the key to unlocking a better and brighter
future for New York roads,
rails and subways.

COMMON SENSE
BY JERRY KASSAR

Avenue. The Bay Ridge
Community Council will
also be holding a debate.
There are certain to be
other forums and debates.
Sadly, this district has
had its problems. The last
two Democratic assemblymembers were arrested,
with Alec Brook-Krasny
(who stepped down from
the post to take a job in the
private sector) awaiting
trial on charges stemming
from his post-Assembly
career, and his successor
Pam Harris pleading guilty
to multiple charges.
Between now and November, I will say this a lot. The
election is Tuesday, November 6. It is very important
that you plan to vote. Mark
it on your calendar.
People often tell me that
they do not have the time.

The polls are open from
6 a.m. to 9 p.m. No one in
Brooklyn is more than a
few blocks from his or her
polling site.
If you are going to be
out of your county all day,
you are allowed to vote by
absentee ballot. Applications for an absentee ballot
can be found on line at the
New York City Board of
Elections website. If you are
not registered to vote, you
have until October 12. The
bottom line is that you have
the right not to vote, but no
good reason not to vote.
***
As usual, the Ragamuﬃn
lunch was a great success.
The main dining room
at the Bay Ridge Manor
was full as Ragamuffin
President Arlene Keating
presented the honorees,
Grand Marshal Leo Lykourezos and Men of the Year
Michael Esposito and Ted

Nugent to those assembled.
A number of public oﬃcials including Donovan,
Golden, Malliotakis and
Councilmember Justin
Brannan, together with
Conservative Party oﬃcials
State Chairperson Mike
Long and Brooklyn Chairperson Fran Vella-Marrone, were in attendance.
The parade kicks oﬀ at 1
p.m. on Saturday, October
13, running along Third
Avenue. It is the parade’s
52nd year. I remember as
a child sitting on the lawn
of my grandparents’ house
at 86th Street and Colonial
Road (the ﬁrst few years it
went up along 86th Street)
watching the parade with
my family.
I think more than most
things, this parade has been
a consistent ongoing part
of Bay Ridge life which has
created countless lifelong
memories for children.

FOR MORE NEWS, VISIT
WWW.BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM

Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018 • HOME REPORTER • 21

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22• BROOKLYN SPECTATOR • Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018

Police Appreciation Mass
Celebrates New York’s Finest

NYPD members during
the mass.

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Arthur de Gaeta

The honor guard filing into the church.
BY JOHN ALEXANDER
JALEXANDER@BROOKLYNEAGLE.
COM

T

he community of
Gravesend gathered at Sts. Simon
and Jude Roman Catholic
Church on Sat., Sept. 29 to
honor the New York Police
Department on the Feast

Day of Saint Michael the
Archangel, patron saint of
law enforcement.
The church, founded in
1897, is located at 295 Ave. T.
Father John Maduri, administrator at Sts. Simon and Jude, was the main celebrant at
the mass, along with Father
Sijo George, Msgr. David
Cassato of St. Athanasius

The priests celebrating the mass.

Church and Msgr. Robert
Romano of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Romano serves as
chaplain at Fontbonne Hall
Academy; both Monsignors
are NYPD chaplains.
According to Christian
doctrine, the Archangel
Michael is one of the principal angelic warriors who
battled Satan and is seen as a

Daniel Sprague, retired pipe sergeant with
the New York City Police Emerald Society
Pipes and Drums, and son Owen.
protector against evil forces.
“This is our third Annual
NYPD Appreciation Mass
and the original idea was to
show community support
and appreciation to the
NYPD and law enforcement,” Patrick Dellamura,
an organizer of the event
told this paper. “This
year, we decided to have a

special collection for the
NYPD’s ‘With Arms Wide
Open Foundation,’ which
supports police families
who have children with
special needs.”
Sixty-Second Precinct
Commanding Oﬃcer Capt.
Anthony Longobardi attended along oﬃcers from
the 62nd Precinct. Blue

lapel pins were distributed
to honor the men and women in blue.
Particularly poignant
was the presence of the
parents of Detective Wenjian Liu, a Bensonhurst
resident who was killed in
2014 while sitting in his police car, along with partner,
Detective Rafael Ramos.
Daniel Sprague, retired
pipe sergeant with the New
York City Police Emerald
Society Pipes and Drums,
performed “Amazing
Grace” on bagpipes as his
son Owen stood by his side.
“This annual event is a
win-win for all involved…
the parish, the community, the NYPD and a great
non-profit organization,”
added Dellamura.
After mass, everyone
was invited to enjoy a
dessert reception in the
church hall.

The parents of slain NYPD Detective Wenjian Liu with Msgr. Robert
Romano and Capt. Anthony Longobardi, commanding officer of the
62nd Precinct.

Week of October 5 - October 11, 2018 • BROOKLYN SPECTATOR • 23

Tigers Engineer Air Attack over Tech
BY JIM DOLAN
FORT HAMILTON 46
BROOKLYN TECH 6
he Tigers (3-1) earned
their third win of the
2018 season over a 1-3
Brooklyn Tech as Fort Hamilton quarterback Marquis
Willoughby had a career
day rushing for two touchdowns and going seven for
11 for 220 yards passing
with three touchdowns.
“Marquis really put on
a show for us today,” said
senior co-captain Sean Hart
referring Willoughby’s ability to spot his receivers and
to hit them downﬁeld.
Hosting the Engineers
for Fort Hamilton’s second
home game, Tech scored on
a 15-yard run by Koby Lee to
put the Engineers up 6-0 for
the ﬁrst quarter.
Going into the second
quarter, the Tigers then
scored in quick succession
as Willoughby made a
40-yard gain followed by a
15-yard rush to tie the game
at 6-6.
Midway in the second
quarter, Zyeonrey Jones
gambled and picked up a
dangerously bouncing ball
to score on a 60-yard punt
return.
Jadin Goodman made a
juggling sideline catch at the

T

Photo by Jim Dolan

In addition to scoring two rushing touchdowns, Fort Hamilton quarterback Marquis Willoughby rolls out of the pocket to
pass over a rushing Brooklyn Tech defense in a game that the Tiger signal caller pass for 220 yards and three touchdowns
in a 46-6 rout of the Engineers.
40-yard line before he was
pushed out of bounds to set
up the next touchdown. Willoughby then followed with
another touchdown run for
35 yards once he saw all
his receivers were covered
downﬁeld to put the Tigers
ahead 22-6 at the half.
In the third quarter, the
Tigers quickly went to

work to put the game out
of reach for the Engineers
as Willoughby rolled out to
make a shovel pass to CeVon Marshall at the 20-yard
line.
From there, Willoughby
hit Marshall again for the
score as the wide receiver
made one of his patented
diving end zone catches.

The third quarter ended
with Willoughby finding
Orion Clarke Tenn open
downﬁeld on a 45-yard pass
play for a 38-6 Tiger lead.
In the fourth quarter, the
Tigers finished the game
with one more score as
Goodman showed that he
was fully recovered from
an arm injury, reaching

high over his head for
the reception to score on
60-yard pass play for the
46-6 ﬁnal score.
Besides praising the
defense that held Tech
scoreless for three quarters, Coach Reggie Wilson
pointed out how many
members of his offense
can be scoring threats as

long as they continue to
practice to get better and
gain conﬁdence.
“We’ve got a lot of first
time starting players this
year to give us a wide open
team with a lot of possibilities,” said Wilson.
Next week on Fri., Oct. 5,
the Tigers take on 4-0 Curtis
in Staten Island.

he #MeToo movement is coming to
America’s public
housing programs, according to a Brooklyn lawmaker
who is pushing the federal
government to dig deeper
into sexual harassment
complaints by tenants.
The day before the Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the
U.S. Supreme Court and the
testimony of alleged sexual
assault victim Dr. Christine
Blasey Ford, U.S. Rep. Nydia
Velázquez introduced a bill
aimed at combating the sexual harassment.
Velázquez’s bill, the
“Sexual
Ha ra ssment
Awareness and Prevention
Act” would require the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
to work with other agencies
to collect information on

sexual harassment and
abuse claims related to
housing.
Velázquez, a Democrat
who represents Sunset
Park, Gowanus and Red
Hook, as well as other
portions of Brooklyn
and Manhattan, said she
introduced the legislation
because housing needs a
#MeToo moment, too. She
introduced the bill on Sept.
26.
“If the ‘Me Too’ movement
has taught us anything it is
this: Anywhere there is an
imbalance of power, from
Hollywood to Wall Street to
the workplace, there’s room
for abuse and, sadly, there’s
the potential for sexual
misconduct,” she said in a
statement.
The government should
be working to make sure
that housing programs
across the country come
under additional scrutiny,
according to Velázquez.
“We need to ensure that

when it comes to the housing sphere, we are taking
a hard look at these kinds
of abuse and that we are
standing with survivors,
whether it is a tenant in
public housing who is
harassed by a landlord, a
Section 8 recipient who
is subject to unwanted
advances from a voucher
administrator or someone
who is treated inappropriately when applying for a
government-backed mortgage,” she stated.
Many tenants who are
sexually harassed do not
report the incidents out
of fear of being evicted,
Velázquez said.
Specifically, her bill
would require HUD to
collect data on every sexual harassment complaint,
commission the Government Accountability
Oﬃce (GAO) to study the
effectiveness of existing
programs the agency has
in place to address sexual

Photo courtesy of Rep. Nydia Velázquez

U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez says “We need to
ensure that when it comes to the housing
sphere, we are taking a hard look” at potential abuse.
harassment and set up a
task force on that would put
GAO’s recommendations

into practice.
“The first step to solving any problem is fully

grasping its scope and this
bill would ensure federal
agencies are proactively
looking at this issue. We
need a full accounting of
how widespread this problem is and that requires
diﬀerent federal agencies
to step up and tackle this
issue head on. We are approaching a long overdue
turning point in American
culture with regards to sexual misconduct,” Velázquez
said.
Velázquez’s bill has
been endorsed by several
organizations, including
the National Fair Housing
Alliance, the National
Housing Law Project,
the National Alliance to
End Sexual Violence, the
National Network to End
Domestic Violence, the
National Law Center on
Homelessness & Poverty,
the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty
Law and the National Low
Income Housing Coalition.